initial commit of ebook 8393HEADmain

1 files changed, 7468 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/8393.txt b/8393.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3aaacf6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/8393.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,7468 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Life in the Backwoods, by Susanna Moodie
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Life in the Backwoods
+       A Sequel to Roughing It in the Bush
+
+Author: Susanna Moodie
+
+
+Release Date: June, 2005 [EBook #8393]
+This file was first posted on July 6, 2003
+Last Updated: May 18, 2013
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN THE BACKWOODS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Bidwell and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+LIFE IN THE BACKWOODS,
+
+
+A Sequel To Roughing It In The Bush.
+
+
+By Susanna Moodie
+
+
+Author Of "Life In The Clearings," "Flora Lyndsay," "Geoffrey Moncton,"
+Etc., Etc.
+
+
+  I sketch from Nature, and the picture's true;
+  Whate'er the subject, whether grave or gay,
+  Painful experience in a distant land
+  Made it mine own.
+
+
+New York:
+
+John W. Lovell Company,
+
+14 And 16 Vesey Street.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER I.--A Journey to the Woods--Corduroy Roads--No Ghosts in Canada
+
+CHAPTER II.--The Wilderness and our Indian Friends--The House on
+Fire--No Papoose; the Mother all alone
+
+CHAPTER III.--Running the Fallow--A Wall of Fire--"But God can save us
+yet."
+
+CHAPTER IV.--Our Logging Bee--"Och! my ould granny taught me."--Signal
+Mercies
+
+CHAPTER V.--A Trip to Stony Lake--A Feast in an Outhouse--The Squatter's
+Log Hut
+
+CHAPTER VI.--Disappointed Hopes--Milk, Bread and Potatoes our only
+Fare--The Deer Hunt
+
+CHAPTER VII.--The Little Stumpy Man--Hiding from the Sheriff--An
+ill-natured volunteer
+
+CHAPTER VIII.--The Fire--"Oh, dear Mamma, do save Papa's Flute"--"No
+time to be clane!"
+
+CHAPTER IX.--The Outbreak--Moodie joins the Volunteers--"Scribblin' and
+Scrabblin' when you should be in bed"
+
+CHAPTER X.--The Whirlwind--Two Miles of Trees Levelled to the
+Ground--Sick Children
+
+CHAPTER XI.--The Walk to Dummer--Honest, Faithful Jenny--A sad
+History--Tried and Found most Faithful
+
+CHAPTER XII.--A Change in our Prospects--In a Canoe--Nearing the
+Rapids--Dandelion Coffee
+
+CHAPTER XIII.--The Magic Spell--"The Sleighs are Come!"--Leaving the
+Bush--End of Life in the Backwoods
+
+
+
+
+LIFE IN THE BACKWOODS
+
+A SEQUEL TO ROUGHING IT IN THE BUSH.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A JOURNEY TO THE WOODS.
+
+  'Tis well for us poor denizens of earth
+  That God conceals the future from our gaze;
+  Or Hope, the blessed watcher on Life's tower,
+  Would fold her wings, and on the dreary waste
+  Close the bright eye that through the murky clouds
+  Of blank Despair still sees the glorious sun.
+
+It was a bright, frosty morning when I bade adieu to the farm, the
+birthplace of my little Agnes, who, nestled beneath my cloak, was
+sweetly sleeping on my knee, unconscious of the long journey before us
+into the wilderness. The sun had not as yet risen. Anxious to get to our
+place of destination before dark, we started as early as we could. Our
+own fine team had been sold the day before for forty pounds; and one of
+our neighbours, a Mr. D----, was to convey us and our household goods to
+Douro for the sum of twenty dollars. During the week he had made several
+journeys, with furniture and stores; and all that now remained was to
+be conveyed to the woods in two large lumber-sleighs, one driven by
+himself, the other by a younger brother.
+
+It was not without regret that I left Melsetter, for so my husband
+had called the place, after his father's estate in Orkney. It was a
+beautiful, picturesque spot; and, in spite of the evil neighbourhood, I
+had learned to love it; indeed, it was much against my wish that it
+was sold. I had a great dislike to removing, which involves a necessary
+loss, and is apt to give to the emigrant roving and unsettled habits.
+But all regrets were now useless; and happily unconscious of the life
+of toil and anxiety that awaited us in those dreadful woods, I tried my
+best to be cheerful, and to regard the future with a hopeful eye.
+
+Our driver was a shrewd, clever man, for his opportunities. He
+took charge of the living cargo, which consisted of my husband, our
+maid-servant, the two little children, and myself--besides a large
+hamper, full of poultry--a dog, and a cat. The lordly sultan of the
+imprisoned seraglio thought fit to conduct himself in a very eccentric
+manner, for at every barnyard we happened to pass, he clapped his wings,
+and crowed so long and loud that it afforded great amusement to the
+whole party, and doubtless was very edifying to the poor hens, who lay
+huddled together as mute as mice.
+
+"That 'ere rooster thinks he's on the top of the heap," said our driver,
+laughing. "I guess he's not used to travelling in a close conveyance.
+Listen! How all the crowers in the neighbourhood give him back a note
+of defiance! But he knows that he's safe enough at the bottom of the
+basket."
+
+The day was so bright for the time of year (the first week in February),
+that we suffered no inconvenience from the cold. Little Katie was
+enchanted with the jingling of the sleigh-bells, and, nestled among
+the packages, kept singing or talking to the horses in her baby lingo.
+Trifling as these little incidents were, before we had proceeded ten
+miles on our long journey, they revived my drooping spirits, and I began
+to feel a lively interest in the scenes through which we were passing.
+
+The first twenty miles of the way was over a hilly and well-cleared
+country; and as in winter the deep snow fills up the inequalities, and
+makes all roads alike, we glided as swiftly and steadily along as if
+they had been the best highways in the world. Anon, the clearings began
+to diminish, and tall woods arose on either side of the path; their
+solemn aspect, and the deep silence that brooded over their vast
+solitudes, inspiring the mind with a strange awe. Not a breath of wind
+stirred the leafless branches, whose huge shadows, reflected upon the
+dazzling white covering of snow, lay so perfectly still, that it seemed
+as if Nature had suspended her operations, that life and motion had
+ceased, and that she was sleeping in her winding-sheet, upon the bier of
+death.
+
+"I guess you will find the woods pretty lonesome," said our driver,
+whose thoughts had been evidently employed on the same subject as our
+own. "We were once in the woods, but emigration has stepped ahead of us,
+and made our'n a cleared part of the country. When I was a boy, all
+this country, for thirty miles on every side of us, was bush land. As
+to Peterborough, the place was unknown; not a settler had ever passed
+through the great swamp, and some of them believed that it was the end
+of the world."
+
+"What swamp is that?" asked I.
+
+"Oh, the great Cavan swamp. We are just two miles from it; and I tell
+you the horses will need a good rest, and ourselves a good dinner, by
+the time we are through it. Ah! Mrs. Moodie, if ever you travel that
+way in summer, you will know something about corduroy roads. I was 'most
+jolted to death last fall; I thought it would have been no bad notion to
+have insured my teeth before I left C----. I really expected that they
+would have been shook out of my head before we had done manoeuvring over
+the big logs."
+
+"How will my crockery stand it in the next sleigh?" quoth I. "If the
+road is such as you describe, I am afraid that I shall not bring a whole
+plate to Douro."
+
+"Oh! the snow is a great leveller--it makes all rough places smooth. But
+with regard to this swamp, I have something to tell you. About ten years
+ago, no one had ever seen the other side of it; and if pigs or cattle
+strayed away into it, they fell a prey to the wolves and bears, and were
+seldom recovered.
+
+"An old Scotch emigrant, who had located himself on this side of it, so
+often lost his beasts that he determined during the summer season to try
+and explore the place, and see if there were any end to it. So he
+takes an axe on his shoulder, and a bag of provisions for the week, not
+forgetting a flask of whiskey, and off he starts all alone, and tells
+his wife that if he never returned, she and little Jock must try and
+carry on the farm without him; but he was determined to see the end
+of the swamp, even if it led to the other world. He fell upon a fresh
+cattle-track, which he followed all that day; and towards night he found
+himself in the heart of a tangled wilderness of bushes, and himself half
+eaten up with mosquitoes and black-flies. He was more than tempted to
+give in, and return home by the first glimpse of light.
+
+"The Scotch are a tough people; they are not easily daunted--a few
+difficulties only seem to make them more eager to get on; and he felt
+ashamed the next moment, as he told me, of giving up. So he finds out
+a large, thick cedar-tree for his bed, climbs up, and coiling himself
+among the branches like a bear, he was soon fast asleep.
+
+"The next morning, by daylight, he continued his journey, not forgetting
+to blaze with his axe the trees to the right and left as he went along.
+The ground was so spongy and wet that at every step he plunged up to his
+knees in water, but he seemed no nearer the end of the swamp than he had
+been the day before. He saw several deer, a raccoon, and a groundhog,
+during his walk, but was unmolested by bears or wolves. Having passed
+through several creeks, and killed a great many snakes, he felt so weary
+towards the second day that he determined to go home the next morning.
+But just as he began to think his search was fruitless, he observed
+that the cedars and tamaracks which had obstructed his path became less
+numerous, and were succeeded by bass and soft maple. The ground, also,
+became less moist, and he was soon ascending a rising slope, covered
+with oak and beech, which shaded land of the very best quality. The old
+man was now fully convinced that he had cleared the great swamp; and
+that, instead of leading to the other world, it had conducted him to
+a country that would yield the very best returns for cultivation. His
+favourable report led to the formation of the road that we are about to
+cross, and to the settlement of Peterborough, which is one of the most
+promising new settlements in this district, and is surrounded by a
+splendid back country."
+
+We were descending a very steep hill, and encountered an ox-sleigh,
+which was crawling slowly up it in a contrary direction. Three people
+were seated at the bottom of the vehicle upon straw, which made a cheap
+substitute for buffalo robes. Perched, as we were, upon the crown of the
+height, we looked completely down into the sleigh, and during the whole
+course of my life I never saw three uglier mortals collected into such
+a narrow space. The man was blear-eyed, with a hare-lip, through which
+protruded two dreadful yellow teeth which resembled the tusks of a boar.
+The woman was long-faced, high cheek-boned, red-haired, and freckled
+all over like a toad. The boy resembled his hideous mother, but with the
+addition of a villainous obliquity of vision which rendered him the most
+disgusting object in this singular trio.
+
+As we passed them, our driver gave a knowing nod to my husband,
+directing, at the same time, the most quizzical glance towards the
+strangers, as he exclaimed, "We are in luck, sir! I think that 'ere
+sleigh may be called Beauty's egg-basket!"
+
+We made ourselves very merry at the poor people's expense, and Mr.
+D----, with his odd stories and Yankeefied expressions, amused the
+tedium of our progress through the great swamp, which in summer presents
+for several miles one uniform bridge of rough and unequal logs, all
+laid loosely across huge sleepers, so that they jumped up and down, when
+pressed by the wheels, like the keys of a piano. The rough motion and
+jolting occasioned by this collision is so distressing that it never
+fails to entail upon the traveller sore bones and an aching head for the
+rest of the day. The path is so narrow over these logs that two wagons
+cannot pass without great difficulty, which is rendered more dangerous
+by the deep natural ditches on either side of the bridge, formed
+by broad creeks that flow out of the swamp, and often terminate in
+mud-holes of very ominous dimensions. The snow, however, hid from us all
+the ugly features of the road, and Mr. D---- steered us through it in
+perfect safety, and landed us at the door of a little log house which
+crowned the steep hill on the other side of the swamp, and which he
+dignified with the name of a tavern.
+
+It was now two o'clock. We had been on the road since seven; and men,
+women, and children were all ready for the good dinner that Mr. D----
+had promised us at this splendid house of entertainment, where we
+were destined to stay for two hours, to refresh ourselves and rest the
+horses.
+
+"Well, Mrs. J----, what have you got for our dinner?" said the driver,
+after he had seen to the accommodation of his teams.
+
+"Pritters and pork, sir. Nothing else to be had in the woods. Thank God,
+we have enough of that!"
+
+D---- shrugged up his shoulders, and looked at us.
+
+"We've plenty of that same at home. But hunger's good sauce. Come, be
+spry, widow, and see about it, for I am very hungry."
+
+I inquired for a private room for myself and the children, but there
+were no private rooms in the house. The apartment we occupied was like
+the cobbler's stall in the old song, and I was obliged to attend upon
+them in public.
+
+"You have much to learn, ma'am, if you are going to the woods," said
+Mrs. J----.
+
+"To unlearn, you mean," said Mr. D----. "To tell you the truth, Mrs.
+Moodie, ladies and gentlemen have no business in the woods. Eddication
+spoils man or woman for that location. So, widow (turning to our
+hostess), you are not tired of living alone yet?"
+
+"No, sir; I have no wish for a second husband. I had enough of the
+first. I like to have my own way--to lie down mistress, and get up
+master."
+
+"You don't like to be put out of your _old_ way," returned he, with a
+mischievous glance.
+
+She coloured very red; but it might be the heat of the fire over which
+she was frying the pork for our dinner.
+
+I was very hungry, but I felt no appetite for the dish she was preparing
+for us. It proved salt, hard, and unsavoury.
+
+D---- pronounced it very bad, and the whiskey still worse, with which he
+washed it down.
+
+I asked for a cup of tea and a slice of bread. But they were out of tea,
+and the hop-rising had failed, and there was no bread in the house.
+For this disgusting meal we paid at the rate of a quarter of a dollar
+a-head.
+
+I was glad when, the horses being again put to, we escaped from the rank
+odour of the fried pork, and were once more in the fresh air.
+
+"Well, mister; did not you grudge your money for that bad meat?" said
+D----, when we were once more seated in the sleigh. "But in these parts,
+the worse the fare the higher the charge."
+
+"I would not have cared," said I, "if I could have got a cup of tea."
+
+"Tea! it's poor trash. I never could drink tea in my life. But I like
+coffee, when 'tis boiled till it's quite black. But coffee is not good
+without plenty of trimmings."
+
+"What do you mean by trimmings?"
+
+He laughed. "Good sugar, and sweet cream. Coffee is not worth drinking
+without trimmings."
+
+Often in after years have I recalled the coffee trimmings, when
+endeavouring to drink the vile stuff which goes by the name of coffee in
+the houses of entertainment in the country.
+
+We had now passed through the narrow strip of clearing which surrounded
+the tavern, and again entered upon the woods. It was near sunset, and we
+were rapidly descending a steep hill, when one of the traces that
+held our sleigh suddenly broke. D---- pulled up in order to repair
+the damage. His brother's team was close behind, and our unexpected
+stand-still brought the horses upon us before J. D---- could stop them.
+I received so violent a blow from the head of one of them, just in the
+back of the neck, that for a few minutes I was stunned and insensible.
+When I recovered, I was supported in the arms of my husband, over whose
+knees I was leaning, and D---- was rubbing my hands and temples with
+snow.
+
+"There, Mr. Moodie, she's coming to. I thought she was killed. I have
+seen a man before now killed by a blow from a horse's head in the like
+manner." As soon as we could, we resumed our places in the sleigh; but
+all enjoyment of our journey, had it been otherwise possible, was gone.
+
+When we reached Peterborough, Moodie wished us to remain at the inn all
+night, as we had still eleven miles of our journey to perform, and that
+through a blazed forest-road, little travelled, and very much impeded by
+fallen trees and other obstacles; but D---- was anxious to get back as
+soon as possible to his own home, and he urged us very pathetically to
+proceed.
+
+The moon arose during our stay at the inn, and gleamed upon the
+straggling frame houses which then formed the now populous and thriving
+town of Peterborough. We crossed the wild, rushing, beautiful Otonabee
+river by a rude bridge, and soon found ourselves journeying over the
+plains or level heights beyond the village, which were thinly wooded
+with picturesque groups of oak and pine, and very much resembled a
+gentleman's park at home. Far below, to our right (for we were upon the
+Smith-town side) we heard the rushing of the river, whose rapid waters
+never receive curb from the iron chain of winter. Even while the rocky
+banks are coated with ice, and the frost-king suspends from every twig
+and branch the most beautiful and fantastic crystals, the black waters
+rush foaming along, a thick steam rising constantly above the rapids, as
+from a boiling pot. The shores vibrate and tremble beneath the force
+of the impetuous flood, as it whirls round cedar-crowned islands and
+opposing rocks, and hurries on to pour its tribute into the Rice Lake,
+to swell the calm, majestic grandeur of the Trent, till its waters are
+lost in the beautiful bay of Quinte, and finally merged in the blue
+ocean of Ontario.
+
+The most renowned of our English rivers dwindle into little muddy rills
+when compared with the sublimity of the Canadian waters. No language can
+adequately express the solemn grandeur of her lake and river scenery;
+the glorious islands that float, like visions from fairy land, upon the
+bosom of these azure mirrors of her cloudless skies. No dreary breadth
+of marshes, covered with flags, hide from our gaze the expanse of
+heaven-tinted waters; no foul mud-banks spread their unwholesome
+exhalations around. The rocky shores are crowned with the cedar, the
+birch, the alder, and soft maple, that dip their long tresses in the
+pure stream; from every crevice in the limestone the harebell and
+Canadian rose wave their graceful blossoms.
+
+The fiercest droughts of summer may diminish the volume and power of
+these romantic streams, but it never leaves their rocky channels bare,
+nor checks the mournful music of their dancing waves. Through the
+openings in the forest, we now and then caught the silver gleam of the
+river tumbling on in moonlight splendour, while the hoarse chiding of
+the wind in the lofty pines above us gave a fitting response to the
+melancholy cadence of the waters.
+
+The children had fallen asleep. A deep silence pervaded the party. Night
+was above us with her mysterious stars. The ancient forest stretched
+around us on every side, and a foreboding sadness sunk upon my heart.
+Memory was busy with the events of many years. I retraced step by step
+the pilgrimage of my past life, until arriving at that passage in its
+sombre history, I gazed through tears upon the singularly savage scene
+around me, and secretly marvelled, "What brought me here??"
+
+"Providence," was the answer which the soul gave. "Not for your own
+welfare, perhaps, but for the welfare of your children, the unerring
+hand of the great Father has led you here. You form a connecting link in
+the destinies of many. It is impossible for any human creature to live
+for himself alone. It may be your lot to suffer, but others will reap a
+benefit from your trials. Look up with confidence to Heaven, and the sun
+of hope will yet shed a cheering beam through the forbidden depths of
+this tangled wilderness."
+
+The road became so bad that Mr. D---- was obliged to dismount, and lead
+his horses through the more intricate passages. The animals themselves,
+weary with their long journey and heavy load, proceeded at foot-fall.
+The moon, too, had deserted us, and the only light we had to guide us
+through the dim arches of the forest was from the snow and the stars,
+which now peered down upon us through the leafless branches of the
+trees, with uncommon brilliancy.
+
+"It will be past midnight before we reach your brother's clearing,"
+(where we expected to spend the night,) said D----. "I wish, Mr. Moodie,
+we had followed your advice, and staid at Peterborough. How fares it
+with you, Mrs. Moodie, and the young ones? It is growing very cold."
+
+We were now in the heart of a dark cedar swamp, and my mind was haunted
+with visions of wolves and bears; but beyond the long, wild howl of
+a solitary wolf, no other sound awoke the sepulchral silence of that
+dismal looking wood.
+
+"What a gloomy spot," said I to my husband. "In the old country,
+superstition would people it with ghosts."
+
+"Ghosts! There are no ghosts in Canada!" said Mr. D----. "The country is
+too new for ghosts. No Canadian is afeard of ghosts. It is only in old
+countries, like your'n, that are full of sin and wickedness, that people
+believe in such nonsense. No human habitation has ever been erected in
+this wood through which you are passing. Until a very few years ago,
+few white persons had ever passed through it; and the Red Man would not
+pitch his tent in such a place as this. Now, ghosts, as I understand the
+word, are the spirits of bad men, that are not allowed by Providence to
+rest in their graves, but, for a punishment, are made to haunt the spots
+where their worst deeds were committed. I don't believe in all this;
+but, supposing it to be true, bad men must have died here before their
+spirits could haunt the place. Now, it is more than probable that no
+person ever ended his days in this forest, so that it would be folly to
+think of seeing his ghost."
+
+This theory of Mr. D----'s had the merit of originality, and it is not
+improbable that the utter disbelief in supernatural appearances, which
+is common to most native-born Canadians, is the result of the same very
+reasonable mode of arguing. The unpeopled wastes of Canada must present
+the same aspect to the new settler that the world did to our first
+parents after their expulsion from the garden of Eden; all the sin which
+could defile the spot, or haunt it with the association of departed
+evil, is concentrated in their own persons. Bad spirits cannot be
+supposed to linger near a place where crime has never been committed.
+The belief in ghosts, so prevalent in old countries, must first have had
+its foundation in the consciousness of guilt.
+
+After clearing this low, swampy portion of the wood, with much
+difficulty, and the frequent application of the axe, to cut away the
+fallen timber that impeded our progress, our ears were assailed by a
+low, roaring, rushing sound, as of the falling of waters.
+
+"That is Herriot's Falls," said our guide. "We are within two miles of
+our destination."
+
+Oh, welcome sound! But those two miles appeared more lengthy than the
+whole journey. Thick clouds, that threatened a snow-storm, had blotted
+out the stars, and we continued to grope our way through a narrow, rocky
+path, upon the edge of the river, in almost total darkness. I now felt
+the chillness of the midnight hour, and the fatigue of the long journey,
+with double force, and envied the servant and children, who had been
+sleeping ever since we left Peterborough. We now descended the steep
+bank, and prepared to cross the rapids.
+
+Dark as it was, I looked with a feeling of dread upon the foaming waters
+as they tumbled over their bed of rocks, their white crests flashing,
+life-like, amid the darkness of the night.
+
+"This is an ugly bridge over such a dangerous place," said D----, as he
+stood up in the sleigh and urged his tired team across the miserable,
+insecure log-bridge, where darkness and death raged below, and one false
+step of his jaded horses would have plunged us into both. I must
+confess I drew a freer breath when the bridge was crossed, and D----
+congratulated us on our safe arrival in Douro.
+
+We now continued our journey along the left bank of the river, but when
+in sight of Mr. S----'s clearing, a large pine-tree, which had newly
+fallen across the narrow path, brought the teams to a stand-still. The
+mighty trunk which had lately formed one of the stately pillars in the
+sylvan temple of Nature, was of too large dimensions to chop in two with
+axes; and after half-an-hour's labour, which to me, poor, cold, weary
+wight! seemed an age, the males of the party abandoned the task in
+despair. To go round it was impossible; its roots were concealed in an
+impenetrable wall of cedar-jungle on the right-hand side of the road,
+and its huge branches hung over the precipitous bank of the river.
+
+"We must try and make the horses jump over it," said D----. "We may
+get an upset, but there is no help for it; we must either make the
+experiment, or stay here all night, and I am too cold and hungry for
+that--so here goes." He urged his horses to leap the log; restraining
+their ardour for a moment as the sleigh rested on the top of the
+formidable barrier, but so nicely balanced, that the difference of a
+straw would almost have overturned the heavily-laden vehicle and its
+helpless inmates. We, however, cleared it in safety. He now stopped,
+and gave directions to his brother to follow the same plan that he had
+adopted; but whether the young man had less coolness, or the horses in
+his team were more difficult to manage, I cannot tell: the sleigh, as it
+hung poised upon the top of the log, was overturned with a loud crash,
+and all my household goods and chattels were scattered over the road.
+Alas, for my crockery and stone china! Scarcely one article remained
+unbroken.
+
+"Never fret about the china," said Moodie; "thank God, the man and the
+horses are uninjured."
+
+I should have felt more thankful had the crocks been spared too; for,
+like most of my sex, I had a tender regard for china, and I knew that
+no fresh supply could be obtained in this part of the world. Leaving
+his brother to collect the scattered fragments, D---- proceeded on his
+journey. We left the road, and were winding our way over a steep hill,
+covered with heaps of brush and fallen timber, and as we reached the
+top, a light gleamed cheerily from the windows of a log house, and the
+next moment we were at my brother's door.
+
+I thought my journey was at an end; but here I was doomed to fresh
+disappointment. His wife was absent on a visit to her friends, and it
+had been arranged that we were to stay with my sister, Mrs. T----, and
+her husband. With all this I was unacquainted; and I was about to quit
+the sleigh and seek the warmth of the fire when I was told that I had
+yet further to go. Its cheerful glow was to shed no warmth on me, and,
+tired as I was, I actually buried my face and wept upon the neck of a
+hound which Moodie had given to Mr. S----, and which sprang up upon the
+sleigh to lick my face and hands. This was my first halt in that weary
+wilderness, where I endured so many bitter years of toil and sorrow. My
+brother-in-law and his family had retired to rest, but they instantly
+rose to receive the way-worn travellers; and I never enjoyed more
+heartily a warm welcome after a long day of intense fatigue, than I did
+that night of my first sojourn in the backwoods.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE WILDERNESS, AND OUR INDIAN FRIENDS.
+
+
+The clouds of the preceding night, instead of dissolving into snow,
+brought on a rapid thaw. A thaw in the middle of winter is the most
+disagreeable change that can be imagined. After several weeks of clear,
+bright, bracing, frosty weather, with a serene atmosphere and cloudless
+sky, you awake one morning surprised at the change in the temperature;
+and, upon looking out of the window, behold the woods obscured by a
+murky haze--not so dense as an English November fog, but more black
+and lowering--and the heavens shrouded in a uniform covering of
+leaden-coloured clouds, deepening into a vivid indigo at the edge of the
+horizon. The snow, no longer hard and glittering, has become soft and
+spongy, and the foot slips into a wet and insidiously-yielding mass at
+every step. From the roof pours down a continuous stream of water,
+and the branches of the trees collecting the moisture of the reeking
+atmosphere, shower it upon the earth from every dripping twig. The
+cheerless and uncomfortable aspect of things without never fails to
+produce a corresponding effect upon the minds of those within, and casts
+such a damp upon the spirits that it appears to destroy for a time all
+sense of enjoyment. Many persons (and myself among the number) are made
+aware of the approach of a thunder-storm by an intense pain and weight
+about the head; and I have heard numbers of Canadians complain that
+a thaw always made them feel bilious and heavy, and greatly depressed
+their animal spirits.
+
+I had a great desire to visit our new location, but when I looked out
+upon the cheerless waste, I gave up the idea, and contented myself with
+hoping for a better day on the morrow; but many morrows came and went
+before a frost again hardened the road sufficiently for me to make the
+attempt.
+
+The prospect from the windows of my sister's log hut was not very
+prepossessing. The small lake in front, which formed such a pretty
+object in summer, now looked like an extensive field covered with
+snow, hemmed in from the rest of the world by a dark belt of sombre
+pine-woods. The clearing round the house was very small, and only just
+reclaimed from the wilderness, and the greater part of it covered with
+piles of brushwood, to be burned the first dry days of spring. The
+charred and blackened stumps on the few acres that had been cleared
+during the preceding year were every thing but picturesque; and I
+concluded, as I turned, disgusted, from the prospect before me, that
+there was very little beauty to be found in the backwoods. But I came to
+this decision during a Canadian thaw, be it remembered, when one is wont
+to view every object with jaundiced eyes.
+
+Moodie had only been able to secure sixty-six acres of his government
+grant upon the Upper Kutchawanook Lake, which, being interpreted, means
+in English, the "Lake of the Waterfalls," a very poetical meaning, which
+most Indian names have. He had, however, secured a clergy reserve of two
+hundred acres adjoining; and he afterwards purchased a fine lot which
+likewise formed a part of the same block, one hundred acres, for L150.
+[Footnote: After a lapse of fifteen years, we have been glad to sell
+these lots of land, after considerable clearings had been made upon
+them, for less than they originally cost us.] This was an enormously
+high price for wild land, but the prospect of opening the Trent and
+Otonabee for the navigation of steamboats and other small craft, was
+at that period a favourite speculation, and its practicability, and the
+great advantages to be derived from it, were so widely believed, as
+to raise the value of the wild lands along these remote waters to an
+enormous price; and settlers in the vicinity were eager to secure lots,
+at any sacrifice, along their shores.
+
+Our government grant was upon the lake shore, and Moodie had chosen for
+the site of his log house a bank that sloped gradually from the edge of
+the water, until it attained to the dignity of a hill. Along the top of
+this ridge, the forest-road ran, and midway down the hill, our humble
+home, already nearly completed, stood, surrounded by the eternal forest.
+A few trees had been cleared in its immediate vicinity, just sufficient
+to allow the workmen to proceed, and to prevent the fall of any tree
+injuring the building, or the danger of its taking fire during the
+process of burning the fallow.
+
+A neighbour had undertaken to build this rude dwelling by contract, and
+was to have it ready for us by the first week in the new year. The want
+of boards to make the divisions in the apartments alone hindered him
+from fulfilling his contract. These had lately been procured, and the
+house was to be ready for our reception in the course of a week. Our
+trunks and baggage had already been conveyed by Mr. D---- hither; and in
+spite of my sister's kindness and hospitality, I longed to find myself
+once more settled in a home of my own.
+
+The day after our arrival, I was agreeably surprised by a visit from
+Monaghan, whom Moodie had once more taken into his service. The poor
+fellow was delighted that his nurse-child, as he always called little
+Katie, had not forgotten him, but evinced the most lively satisfaction
+at the sight of her dark friend.
+
+Early every morning, Moodie went off to the house; and the first fine
+day, my sister undertook to escort me through the wood, to inspect it.
+The proposal was joyfully accepted; and although I felt _rather_ timid
+when I found myself with only my female companion in the vast forest, I
+kept my fears to myself, lest I should be laughed at. This foolish dread
+of encountering wild beasts in the woods, I never could wholly shake
+off, even after becoming a constant resident in their gloomy depths,
+and accustomed to follow the forest-path, alone, or attended with little
+children, daily. The cracking of an old bough, or the hooting of
+the owl, was enough to fill me with alarm, and try my strength in a
+precipitate flight. Often have I stopped and reproached myself for want
+of faith in the goodness of Providence, and repeated the text, "The
+wicked are afraid when no man pursueth: but the righteous are as bold
+as a lion," as if to shame myself into courage. But it would not do; I
+could not overcome the weakness of the flesh. If I had one of my infants
+with me, the wish to protect the child from any danger which might beset
+my path gave me for a time a fictitious courage; but it was like love
+fighting with despair.
+
+It was in vain that my husband assured me that no person had ever been
+attacked by wild animals in the woods, that a child might traverse them
+even at night in safety; whilst I knew that wild animals existed in
+those woods, I could not believe him, and my fears on this head rather
+increased than diminished.
+
+The snow had been so greatly decreased by the late thaw, that it had
+been converted into a coating of ice, which afforded a dangerous and
+slippery footing. My sister, who had resided for nearly twelve months
+in the woods, was provided for her walk with Indian moccasins, which
+rendered her quite independent; but I stumbled at every step. The sun
+shone brightly, the air was clear and invigorating, and, in spite of the
+treacherous ground and my foolish fears, I greatly enjoyed my first walk
+in the woods. Naturally of a cheerful, hopeful disposition, my sister
+was enthusiastic in her admiration of the woods. She drew such a lively
+picture of the charms of a summer residence in the forest that I began
+to feel greatly interested in her descriptions, and to rejoice that we
+too were to be her near neighbours and dwellers in the woods; and this
+circumstance not a little reconciled me to the change.
+
+Hoping that my husband would derive an income equal to the one he had
+parted with from the investment of the price of his commission in
+the steamboat stock, I felt no dread of want. Our legacy of L700 had
+afforded us means to purchase land, build our house, and give out a
+large portion of land to be cleared, and, with a considerable sum
+of money still in hand, our prospects for the future were in no way
+discouraging.
+
+When we reached the top of the ridge that overlooked our cot, my sister
+stopped, and pointed out a large dwelling among the trees. "There,
+S----," she said, "is your home. When that black cedar swamp is cleared
+away, that now hides the lake from us, you will have a very, pretty
+view." My conversation with her had quite altered the aspect of the
+country, and predisposed me to view things in the most favourable light.
+I found Moodie and Monaghan employed in piling up heaps of bush near the
+house, which they intended to burn off by hand previous to firing the
+rest of the fallow, to prevent any risk to the building from fire. The
+house was made of cedar logs, and presented a superior air of comfort to
+most dwellings of the same kind. The dimensions were thirty-six feet
+in length, and thirty-two in breadth, which gave us a nice parlour, a
+kitchen, and two small bedrooms, which were divided by plank partitions.
+Pantry or storeroom there was none; some rough shelves in the kitchen,
+and a deal cupboard in a corner of the parlour, being the extent of our
+accommodations in that way.
+
+Our servant, Mary Tate, was busy scrubbing out the parlour and bedroom;
+but the kitchen, and the sleeping-room off it, were still knee-deep
+in chips, and filled with the carpenter's bench and tools, and all our
+luggage. Such as it was, it was a palace when compared to Old Satan's
+log hut, or the miserable cabin we had wintered in during the severe
+winter of 1833, and I regarded it with complacency as my future home.
+
+While we were standing outside the building, conversing with my husband,
+a young gentleman, of the name of Morgan, who had lately purchased land
+in that vicinity, went into the kitchen to light his pipe at the stove,
+and, with true backwood carelessness, let the hot cinder fall among the
+dry chips that strewed the floor. A few minutes after, the whole mass
+was in a blaze, and it was not without great difficulty that Moodie
+and Mr. R---- succeeded in putting out the fire. Thus were we nearly
+deprived of our home before we had taken up our abode in it.
+
+The indifference to the danger of fire in a country where most of the
+dwellings are composed of inflammable materials, is truly astonishing.
+Accustomed to see enormous fires blazing on every hearth-stone, and to
+sleep in front of these fires, his bedding often riddled with holes
+made by hot particles of wood flying out during the night, and igniting
+beneath his very nose, the sturdy backwoodsman never dreads an enemy in
+the element that he is used to regard as his best friend. Yet what
+awful accidents, what ruinous calamities arise, out of this criminal
+negligence, both to himself and others!
+
+A few days after this adventure, we bade adieu to my sister, and took
+possession of our new dwelling and commenced "a life in the woods."
+
+The first spring we spent in comparative ease and idleness. Our cows
+had been left upon our old place during the winter. The ground had to be
+cleared before it could receive a crop of any kind, and I had little
+to do but to wander by the lake shore, or among the woods, and amuse
+myself. These were the halcyon days of the bush. My husband had
+purchased a very light cedar canoe, to which he attached a keel a sail;
+and most of our leisure hours, directly the snows melted, were spent
+upon the water.
+
+These fishing and shooting excursions were delightful. The pure beauty
+of the Canadian water, the sombre but august grandeur of the vast forest
+that hemmed us in on every side and shut us out from the rest of the
+world, soon cast a magic spell upon our spirits, and we began to feel
+charmed with the freedom and solitude around us. Every object was new
+to us. We felt as if we were the first discoverers of every beautiful
+flower and stately tree that attracted our attention, and we gave names
+to fantastic rocks and fairy isles, and raised imaginary houses and
+bridges on every picturesque spot which we floated past during our
+aquatic excursions. I learned the use of the paddle, and became quite a
+proficient in the gentle craft.
+
+It was not long before we received visits from the Indians, a people
+whose beauty, talents, and good qualities have been somewhat overrated,
+and invested with a poetical interest which they scarcely deserve. Their
+honesty and love of truth are the finest traits in characters otherwise
+dark and unlovely. But these are two God-like attributes, and from them
+spring all that is generous and ennobling about them.
+
+There never was a people more sensible of kindness, or more grateful for
+any little act of benevolence exercised towards them. We met them with
+confidence; our dealings with them were conducted with the strictest
+integrity; and they became attached to our persons, and in no single
+instance ever destroyed the good opinion we entertained of them.
+
+The tribes that occupy the shores of all these inland waters back of the
+great lakes, belong to the Chippewa or Missasagua Indians, perhaps the
+least attractive of all these wild people, both with regard to their
+physical and mental endowments. The men of this tribe are generally
+small of stature, with very coarse and repulsive features. The forehead
+is low and retreating, the observing faculties large, the intellectual
+ones scarcely developed; the ears large, and standing off from the face;
+the eyes looking towards the temples, keen, snake-like, and far apart;
+the cheek-bones prominent; the nose long and flat, the nostrils very
+round; the jaw-bone projecting, massy, and brutal; the mouth expressing
+ferocity and sullen determination; the teeth large, even, and dazzilngly
+white. The mouth of the female differs widely in expression from that of
+the male; the lips are fuller, the jaw less projecting, and the smile
+is simple and agreeable. The women are a merry, light-hearted set, and
+their constant laugh and incessant prattle form a strange contrast to
+the iron taciturnity of their grim lords.
+
+Now I am upon the subject, I will recapitulate a few traits and sketches
+of these people, as they came under my own immediate observation.
+
+A dry cedar swamp, not far from the house, by the lake shore, had been
+their usual place of encampment for many years. The whole block of land
+was almost entirely covered with maple-trees, and had originally been an
+Indian sugar-bush. Although the favourite spot had now passed into the
+hands of strangers, they still frequented the place, to make canoes
+and baskets, to fish and shoot, and occasionally to follow their old
+occupation. Scarcely a week passed away without my being visited by the
+dark strangers; and as my husband never allowed them to eat with the
+servants, but brought them to his own table, they soon grew friendly
+and communicative, and would point to every object that attracted their
+attention, asking a thousand questions as to its use, the material of
+which it was made, and if we were inclined to exchange it for their
+commodities? With a large map of Canada, they were infinitely delighted.
+In a moment they recognized every bay and headland in Ontario, and
+almost screamed with delight when, following the course of the Trent
+with their fingers, they came to their own lake.
+
+How eagerly each pointed out the spot to his fellows; how intently their
+black heads were bent down, and their dark eyes fixed upon the map! What
+strange, uncouth exclamations of surprise burst from their lips as
+they rapidly repeated the Indian names for every lake and river on this
+wonderful piece of paper!
+
+The old chief, Peter Nogan, begged hard for the coveted treasure. He
+would give "Canoe, venison, duck, fish, for it; and more, by and by."
+
+I felt sorry that I was unable to gratify his wishes; but the map had
+cost upwards of six dollars, and was daily consulted by my husband,
+in reference to the names and situations of localities in the
+neighbourhood.
+
+I had in my possession a curious Japanese sword, which had been given to
+me by an uncle of Tom Wilson's--a strange gift to a young lady; but
+it was on account of its curiosity, and had no reference to my warlike
+propensities. This sword was broad, and three-sided in the blade, and in
+shape resembled a moving snake. The hilt was formed of a hideous carved
+image of one of their war-gods; and a more villainous wretch was never
+conceived by the most distorted imagination. He was represented in a
+sitting attitude, the eagle's claws, that formed his hands, resting
+upon his knees; his legs terminated in lion's paws; and his face was a
+strange compound of beast and bird--the upper part of his person being
+covered with feathers, the lower with long, shaggy hair. The case of
+this awful weapon was made of wood, and, in spite of its serpentine
+form, fitted it exactly. No trace of a join could be found in this
+scabbard, which was of hard wood, and highly polished.
+
+One of my Indian friends found this sword lying upon the book-shelf,
+and he hurried to communicate the important discovery to his companions.
+Moodie was absent, and they brought it to me to demand an explanation of
+the figure that formed the hilt. I told them that it was a weapon that
+belonged to a very fierce people who lived in the East, far over the
+Great Salt Lake; that they were not Christians, as we were, but said
+their prayers to images made of silver, and gold, and ivory, and wood,
+and that this was one of them; that before they went into battle they
+said their prayers to that hideous thing, which they had made with their
+own hands. The Indians were highly amused by this relation, and passed
+the sword from one to the other, exclaiming, "A god!--Owgh!--A god!"
+
+But, in spite of these outward demonstrations of contempt, I was sorry
+to perceive that this circumstance gave the weapon a great value in
+their eyes, and they regarded it with a sort of mysterious awe.
+
+For several days they continued to visit the house, bringing along with
+them some fresh companion to look at Mrs. Moodie's _god!_--until,
+vexed and annoyed by the delight they manifested at the sight of the
+eagle-beaked monster, I refused to gratify their curiosity by not
+producing him again.
+
+The manufacture of the sheath, which had caused me much perplexity,
+was explained by old Peter in a minute. "'Tis burnt out," he said.
+"Instrument made like sword--heat red-hot--burnt through--polished
+outside."
+
+Had I demanded a whole fleet of canoes for my Japanese sword, I am
+certain they would have agreed to the bargain. The Indian possesses
+great taste, which is displayed in the carving of his paddles, in the
+shape of his canoes, in the elegance and symmetry of his bows, in the
+cut of his leggings and moccasins, the sheath of his hunting-knife,
+and in all the little ornaments in which he delights. It is almost
+impossible for a settler to imitate to perfection an Indian's
+cherry-wood paddle. My husband made very creditable attempts, but still
+there was something wanting--the elegance of the Indian finish was not
+there. If you show them a good print, they invariably point out the most
+natural and the best-executed figure in the group. They are particularly
+delighted with pictures, examine them long and carefully, and seem to
+feel an artist-like pleasure in observing the effect produced by light
+and shade.
+
+I had been showing John Nogan, the eldest son of old Peter, some
+beautiful coloured engravings of celebrated females; and to my
+astonishment he pounced upon the best, and grunted out his admiration in
+the most approved Indian fashion. After having looked for a long time at
+all the pictures very attentively, he took his dog Sancho upon his
+knee, and showed him the pictures, with as much gravity as if the animal
+really could have shared in his pleasure. The vanity of these grave men
+is highly amusing. They seem perfectly unconscious of it themselves; and
+it is exhibited in the most childlike manner.
+
+Peter and his son John were taking tea with us, when we were joined
+by my brother Mr. S----. The latter was giving us an account of the
+marriage of Peter Jones, the celebrated Indian preacher.
+
+"I cannot think," he said, "how any lady of propeity and education could
+marry such a man as Jones. Why, he's as ugly as Peter here."
+
+This was said, not with any idea of insulting the red-skin on the score
+of his beauty, of which he possessed not the smallest particle, but in
+total forgetfulness that our guest understood English. Never shall
+I forget the red flash of that fierce, dark eye as it glared upon my
+unconscious brother. I would not have received such a fiery glance for
+all the wealth that Peter Jones obtained with his Saxon bride. John
+Nogan was highly amused by his father's indignation. He hid his face
+behind the chief; and though he kept perfectly still, his whole frame
+was convulsed with suppressed laughter.
+
+A plainer human being than poor Peter could scarcely be imagined; yet
+he certainly deemed himself handsome. I am inclined to think that their
+ideas of personal beauty differ very widely from ours. Tom Nogan, the
+chief's brother, had a very large, fat ugly squaw for his wife. She
+was a mountain of tawny flesh; and, but for the innocent, good-natured
+expression, which, like a bright sunbeam penetrating a swarthy cloud,
+spread all around a kindly glow, she might have been termed hideous.
+
+This woman they considered very handsome, calling her "a fine
+squaw--clever squaw--a much good woman;" though in what her superiority
+consisted, I never could discover, often as I visited the wigwam. She
+was very dirty, and appeared quite indifferent to the claims of common
+decency (in the disposal of the few filthy rags that covered her). She
+was, however, very expert in all Indian craft. No Jew could drive a
+better bargain than Mrs. Tom; and her urchins, of whom she was the happy
+mother of five or six, were as cunning and avaricious as herself. One
+day she visited me, bringing along with her a very pretty covered basket
+for sale. I asked her what she wanted for it, but could obtain from her
+no satisfactory answer. I showed her a small piece of silver. She shook
+her head. I tempted her with pork and flour, but she required neither.
+I had just given up the idea of dealing with her, in despair, when she
+suddenly seized upon me, and, lifting up my gown, pointed exultingly to
+my quilted petticoat, clapping her hands, and laughing immoderately.
+
+Another time she led me all over the house, to show me what she wanted
+in exchange for _basket_. My patience was well nigh exhausted in
+following her from place to place, in her attempt to discover the
+coveted article, when, hanging upon a peg in my chamber, she espied a
+pair of trowsers belonging to my husband's logging-suit. The riddle
+was solved. With a joyful cry she pointed to them, exclaiming "Take
+basket.--Give them!" It was with no small difficulty that I rescued the
+indispensables from her grasp.
+
+From this woman I learned a story of Indian coolness and courage which
+made a deep impression on my mind. One of their squaws, a near relation
+of her own, had accompanied her husband on a hunting expedition into the
+forest. He had been very successful, and having killed more deer than
+they could well carry home, he went to the house of a white man to
+dispose of some of it, leaving the squaw to take care of the rest until
+his return. She sat carelessly upon the log with his hunting-knife in
+her hand, when she heard the breaking of branches near her, and, turning
+round, beheld a great bear only a few paces from her.
+
+It was too late to retreat; and seeing that the animal was very hungry,
+and determined to come to close quarters, she rose, and placed her back
+against a small tree, holding her knife close to her breast, and in a
+straight line with the bear. The shaggy monster came on. She remained
+motionless, her eyes steadily fixed upon her enemy, and as his huge arms
+closed around her, she slowly drove the knife into his heart. The
+bear uttered a hideous cry, and sank dead at her feet. When the Indian
+returned, he found the courageous woman taking the skin from the carcass
+of the formidable brute.
+
+The wolf they hold in great contempt, and scarcely deign to consider him
+as an enemy. Peter Nogan assured me that he never was near enough to
+one in his life to shoot it; that, except in large companies, and when
+greatly pressed by hunger, they rarely attack men. They hold the lynx,
+or wolverine, in much dread, as they often spring from trees upon their
+prey, fastening upon the throat with their sharp teeth and claws, from
+which a person in the dark could scarcely free himself without first
+receiving a dangerous wound. The cry of this animal is very terrifying,
+resembling the shrieks of a human creature in mortal agony.
+
+My husband was anxious to collect some of the native Indian airs, as
+they all sing weil, and have a fine ear for music, but all his efforts
+proved abortive. "John," he said to young Nogan (who played very
+creditably on the flute, and had just concluded the popular air of
+"Sweet Home"), "cannot you play me one of jour own songs?"
+
+"Yes,--but no good."
+
+"Leave me to be the judge of that. Cannot you give me a war-song?"
+
+"Yes,--but no good," with an ominous shake of the head.
+
+"A hunting-song?"
+
+"No fit for white man."--with an air of contempt.--"No good, no good!"
+
+"Do, John, sing us a love-song," said I, laughing, "if you have such a
+thing in your language."
+
+"Oh! much love-song--very much--bad--bad--no good for Christian man.
+Indian song no good for white ears." This was very tantalizing, as their
+songs sounded very sweet from the lips of their squaws, and I had a
+great desire and curiosity to get some of them rendered into English.
+
+To my husband they gave the name of "the musician," but I have forgotten
+the Indian word. It signified the maker of sweet sounds. They listened
+with intense delight to the notes of his flute, maintained a breathless
+silence during the performance; their dark eyes flashing in fierce light
+at a martial strain, or softening with the plaintive and tender.
+
+The affection of Indian parents to their children, and the deference
+which they pay to the aged, is a beautiful and touching trait in their
+character.
+
+One extremely cold, wintry day, as I was huddled with my little ones
+over the stove, the door softly unclosed, and the moccasined foot of
+an Indian crossed the floor. I raised my head, for I was too much
+accustomed to their sudden appearance at any hour to feel alarmed, and
+perceived a tall woman standing silently and respectfully before me,
+wrapped in a large blanket. The moment she caught my eye she dropped
+the folds of her covering from around her, and laid at my feet the
+attenuated figure of a boy, about twelve years of age, who was in the
+last stage of consumption.
+
+"Papouse die," she said, mournfully, clasping her hands against her
+breast, and looking down upon the suffering lad with the most heartfelt
+expression of maternal love, while large tears trickled down her dark
+face. "Moodie's squaw save papouse--poor Indian woman much glad."
+
+Her child was beyond all human aid. I looked anxiously upon him, and
+knew, by the pinched-up features and purple hue of his wasted cheek,
+that he had not many hours to live. I could only answer with tears her
+agonizing appeal to my skill.
+
+"Try and save him! All die but him." (She held up five of her fingers.)
+"Brought him all the way from Mutta Lake [Footnote: Mud Lake, or Lake
+_Shemong_, in Indian.] upon my back, for white squaw to cure."
+
+"I cannot cure him, my poor friend. He is in God's care; in a few hours
+he will be with Him."
+
+The child was seized with a dreadful fit of coughing, which I expected
+every moment would terminate his frail existence. I gave him a
+tea-spoonful of currant-jelly, which he took with avidity, but could not
+retain a moment on his stomach.
+
+"Papouse die," murmured the poor woman; "alone--alone! No papouse; the
+mother all alone."
+
+She began re-adjusting the poor sufferer in her blanket. I got her some
+food, and begged her to stay and rest herself; but she was too much
+distressed to eat, and too restless to remain. She said little, but
+her face expressed the keenest anguish; she took up her mournful load,
+pressed for a moment his wasted, burning hand in hers, and left the
+room.
+
+My heart followed her a long way on her melancholy journey. Think
+what this woman's love must have been for that dying son, when she had
+carried a lad of his age six miles, through the deep snow upon her back,
+on such a day, in the hope of my being able to do him some good. Poor
+heartbroken mother! I learned from Joe Muskrat's squaw some days after
+that the boy died a few minutes after Elizabeth Iron, his mother, got
+home.
+
+They never forget any little act of kindness. One cold night, late in
+the fall, my hospitality was demanded by six squaws, and puzzled I was
+how to accommodate them all. I at last determined to give them the use
+of the parlour floor during the night. Among these women there was one
+very old, whose hair was as white as snow. She was the only gray-haired
+Indian I ever saw, and on that account I regarded her with peculiar
+interest. I knew that she was the wife of a chief, by the scarlet
+embroidered leggings, which only the wives and daughters of chiefs are
+allowed to wear. The old squaw had a very pleasing countenance, but
+I tried in vain to draw her into conversation. She evidently did not
+understand me; and the Muskrat squaw, and Betty Cow, were laughing at
+my attempts to draw her out. I administered supper to them with my own
+hands, and after I had satisfied their wants, (which is no very easy
+task, for they have great appetites,) I told our servant to bring in
+several spare mattresses and blankets for their use. "Now mind, Jenny,
+and give the old squaw the best bed," I said; "the others are young and
+can put up with a little inconvenience."
+
+The old Indian glanced at me with her keen, bright eye; but I had no
+idea that she comprehended what I said. Some weeks after this, as I was
+sweeping over my parlour floor, a slight tap drew me to the door. On
+opening it I perceived the old squaw, who immediately slipped into my
+hand a set of beautifully-embroidered bark trays, fitting one within the
+other, and exhibiting the very best sample of the porcupine-quill work.
+While I stood wondering what this might mean, the good old creature fell
+upon my neck, and kissing me, exclaimed, "You remember old squaw--make
+her comfortable! Old squaw no forget you. Keep them for her sake," and
+before I could detain her she ran down the hill with a swiftness which
+seemed to bid defiance to years. I never saw this interesting Indian
+again, and I concluded that she died during the winter, for she must
+have been of a great age.
+
+A friend was staying with us, who wished much to obtain a likeness of
+Old Peter. I promised to try and make a sketch of the old man the next
+time he paid us a visit. That very afternoon he brought us some ducks
+in exchange for pork, and Moodie asked him to stay and take a glass
+of whiskey with him and his friend Mr. K----. The old man had arrayed
+himself in a new blanket-coat, bound with red, and the seams all
+decorated with the same gay material. His leggings and moccasins were
+new, and elaborately fringed; and, to cap the climax of the whole, he
+had a blue cloth conical cap upon his head, ornamented with a deer's
+tail dyed blue, and several cock's feathers. He was evidently very
+much taken up with the magnificence of his own appearance, for he often
+glanced at himself in a small shaving-glass that hung opposite, with a
+look of grave satisfaction. Sitting apart that I might not attract his
+observation, I got a tolerably faithful likeness of the old man, which,
+after sightly colouring, to show more plainly his Indian finery, I
+quietly handed over to Mr. K----. Sly as I thought myself, my occupation
+and the object of it had not escaped the keen eye of the old man. He
+rose, came behind Mr. K----'s chair, and regarded the picture with
+a most affectionate eye. I was afraid that he would be angry at the
+liberty I had taken. No such thing! He was as pleased as Punch.
+
+"That Peter?" he grunted. "Give me--put up in wigwam--make dog too!
+Owgh! owgh!" and he rubbed his hands together, and chuckled with
+delight. Mr. K---- had some difficulty in coaxing the picture from the
+old chief; so pleased was he with this rude representation of himself.
+He pointed to every particular article of his dress, and dwelt with
+peculiar glee on the cap and blue deer's tail.
+
+A few days after this, I was painting a beautiful little snow-bird, that
+our man had shot out of a large flock that alighted near the door. I was
+so intent upon my task, to which I was putting the finishing strokes,
+that I did not observe the stealthy entrance (for they all walk like
+cats) of a stern-looking red man, till a slender, dark hand was extended
+over my paper to grasp the dead bird from which I was copying, and which
+as rapidly transferred it to the side of the painted one, accompanying
+the act with the deep guttural note of approbation, the unmusical,
+savage "Owgh."
+
+My guest then seated himself with the utmost gravity in a rocking-chair,
+directly fronting me, and made the modest demand that I should paint a
+likeness of him, after the following quaint fashion:
+
+"Moodie's squaw know much--make Peter Nogan toder day on papare--make
+Jacob to-day--Jacob young--great hunter--give much duck--venison--to
+squaw."
+
+Although I felt rather afraid of my fierce-looking visitor, I
+could scarcely keep my gravity; there was such an air of pompous
+self-approbation about the Indian, such a sublime look of conceit in his
+grave vanity.
+
+"Moodie's squaw cannot do every thing; she cannot paint young men," said
+I, rising, and putting away my drawing materials, upon which he kept his
+eye intently fixed, with a hungry, avaricious expression. I thought it
+best to place the coveted objects beyond his reach. After sitting for
+some time, and watching all my movements, he withdrew, with a sullen,
+disappointed air. This man was handsome, but his expression was vile.
+Though he often came to the house, I never could reconcile myself to his
+countenance.
+
+Late one very dark, stormy night, three Indians begged to be allowed to
+sleep by the kitchen stove. The maid was frightened out of her wits at
+the sight of these strangers, who were Mohawks from the Indian woods
+upon the Bay of Quinte, and they brought along with them a horse and
+cutter. The night was so stormy, that, after consulting our man--Jacob
+Faithful, as we usually called him--I consented to grant their petition,
+although they were quite strangers, and taller and fiercer-looking than
+our friends the Missasaguas.
+
+I was putting my children to bed, when the girl came rushing in, out of
+breath. "The Lord preserve us, madam, if one of these wild men has not
+pulled off his trowsers, and is a-sitting mending them behind the stove!
+and what shall I do?"
+
+"Do?-why, stay with me, and leave the poor fellow to finish his work."
+
+The simple girl had never once thought of this plan of pacifying her
+outraged sense of propriety.
+
+Their sense of hearing is so acute that they can distinguish sounds at
+an incredible distance, which cannot be detected by a European at all.
+I myself witnessed a singular exemplification of this fact. It was
+mid-winter; the Indians had pitched their tent, or wigwam, as usual,
+in our swamp. All the males were absent on a hunting expedition up the
+country, and had left two women behind to take care of the camp and its
+contents, Mrs. Tom Nogan and her children, and Susan Moore, a young girl
+of fifteen, and the only truly beautiful squaw I ever saw. There
+was something interesting about this girl's history, as well as her
+appearance. Her father had been drowned during a sudden hurricane,
+which swamped his canoe on Stony Lake; and the mother, who witnessed the
+accident from the shore, and was near her confinement with this child,
+boldly swam out to his assistance. She reached the spot where he sank,
+and even succeeded in recovering the body; but it was too late; the man
+was dead.
+
+The soul of an Indian that has been drowned is reckoned accursed, and he
+is never permitted to join his tribe on the happy hunting-grounds, but
+his spirit haunts the lake or river in which he lost his life. His body
+is buried on some lonely island, which the Indians never pass without
+leaving a small portion of food, tobacco, or ammunition, to supply
+his wants; but he is never interred with the rest of his people. His
+children are considered unlucky, and few willingly unite them selves to
+the females of the family, lest a poition of the father's curse should
+be visited on them.
+
+The orphan Indian girl generally kept aloof from the rest, and seemed
+so lonely and companionless, that she soon attracted my attention and
+sympathy, and a hearty feeling of good-will sprang up between us. Her
+features were small and regular, her face oval, and her large, dark,
+loving eyes were full of tenderness and sensibility, but as bright and
+shy as those of the deer. A rich vermilion glow burnt upon her olive
+cheek and lips, and set off the dazzling whiteness of her even and
+pearly teeth. She was small of stature, with delicate little hands and
+feet, and her figure was elastic and graceful. She was a beautiful child
+of nature, and her Indian name signified "the voice of angry waters."
+Poor girl, she had been a child of grief and tears from her birth! Her
+mother was a Mohawk, from whom she, in all probability, derived
+her superior personal attractions; for they are very far before the
+Missasaguas in this respect.
+
+My friend and neighbour, Emilia S----, the wife of a naval officer, who
+lived about a mile distant from me, through the bush, had come to spend
+the day with me; and hearing that the Indians were in the swamp, and the
+men away, we determined to take a few trifles to the camp, in the way
+of presents, and spend an hour in chatting with the squaws.
+
+What a beautiful moonlight night it was, as light as day!--the great
+forest sleeping tranquilly beneath the cloudless heavens--not a sound
+to disturb the deep repose of nature but the whispering of the breeze,
+which, during the most profound calm, creeps through the lofty pine
+tops. We bounded down the steep bank to the lake shore. Life is a
+blessing, a precious boon indeed, in such an hour, and we felt happy in
+the mere consciousness of existence--the glorious privilege of pouring
+out the silent adoration of the heart to the Great Father in his
+universal temple.
+
+On entering the wigwam, which stood within a few yards of the clearing,
+in the middle of a thick group of cedars, we found Mrs. Tom alone with
+her elvish children, seated before the great fire that burned in the
+centre of the camp; she was busy boiling some bark in an iron spider.
+The little boys, in red flannel shirts, which were their only covering,
+were tormenting a puppy, which seemed to take their pinching and
+pommelling in good part, for it neither attempted to bark nor to bite,
+but like the eels in the story, submitted to the infliction because
+it was used to it. Mrs. Tom greeted us with a grin of pleasure, and
+motioned us to sit down upon a buffalo skin, which, with a courtesy so
+natural to the Indians, she had placed near her for our accommodation.
+
+"You are all alone," said I, glancing round the camp. "Ye'es; Indian
+away hunting--Upper Lakes. Come home with much deer."
+
+"And Susan, where is she?"
+
+"By and by," (meaning that she was coming). "Gone to fetch water--ice
+thick--chop with axe--take long time."
+
+As she ceased speaking, the old blanket that formed the door of the tent
+was withdrawn, and the girl, bearing two pails of water, stood in the
+open space, in the white moonlight. The glow of the fire streamed upon
+her dark, floating locks, danced in the black, glistening eye, and
+gave a deeper blush to the olive cheek! She would have made a beautiful
+picture; Sir Joshua Reynolds would have rejoiced in such a model--so
+simply graceful and unaffected, the very _beau ideal_ of savage life and
+unadorned nature. A smile of recognition passed between us. She put down
+her burden beside Mrs. Tom, and noiselessly glided to her seat.
+
+We had scarcely exchanged a few words with our favourite, when the old
+squaw, placing her hand against her ear, exclaimed, "Whist! whist!"
+
+"What is it?" cried Emilia and I, starting to our feet, "Is there any
+danger?"
+
+"A deer--a deer--in bush!" whispered the squaw, seizing a rifle that
+stood in a corner. "I hear sticks crack--a great way off. Stay here!"
+
+A great way off the animal must have been, for though Emilia and I
+listened at the open door, an advantage which the squaw did not enjoy,
+we could not hear the least sound: all seemed still as death. The squaw
+whistled to an old hound, and went out.
+
+"Did you hear any thing, Susan?"
+
+She smiled, and nodded.
+
+"Listen; the dog has found the track."
+
+The next moment the discharge of a rifle, and the deep baying of the
+dog, woke up the sleeping echoes of the woods; and the girl started off
+to help the old squaw to bring in the game that she had shot.
+
+The Indians are great imitators, and possess a nice tact in adopting
+the customs and manners of those with whom they associate. An Indian is
+Nature's gentleman--never familiar, coarse, or vulgar. If he take a
+meal with you, he waits to see how you make use of the implements on the
+table, and the manner in which you eat, which he imitates with a grave
+decorum, as if he had been accustomed to the same usage from childhood.
+He never attempts to help himself, or demand more food, but waits
+patiently until you perceive what he requires. I was perfectly
+astonished at this innate politeness, for it seems natural to all the
+Indians with whom I have had any dealings.
+
+There was one old Indian, who belonged to a distant settlement, and only
+visited our lakes occasionally on hunting parties. He was a strange,
+eccentric, merry old fellow, with a skin like red mahogany, and a wiry,
+sinewy frame, that looked as if it could bid defiance to every change
+of temperature. Old Snow-storm, for such was his significant name, was
+rather too fond of the whiskey-bottle, and when he had taken a drop too
+much, he became an unmanageable wild beast. He had a great fancy for my
+husband, and never visited the other Indians without extending the same
+favour to us. Once upon a time, he broke the nipple of his gun; and
+Moodie repaired the injury for him by fixing a new one in its place,
+which little kindness quite won the heart of the old man, and he never
+came to see us without bringing an offering of fish, ducks, partridges,
+or venison, to show his gratitude.
+
+One warm September day, he made his appearance bareheaded, as usual, and
+carrying in his hand a great checked bundle.
+
+"Fond of grapes?" said he, putting the said bundle into my hands. "Fine
+grapes--brought them from island, for my friend's squaw and papouses."
+
+Glad of the donation, which I considered quite a prize, I hastened into
+the kitchen to untie the grapes and put them into a dish. But imagine
+my disappointment, when I found them wrapped up in a soiled shirt, only
+recently taken from the back of the owner. I called Moodie, and begged
+him to return Snow-storm his garment, and to thank him for the grapes.
+
+The mischievous creature was highly diverted with the circumstance, and
+laughed immoderately.
+
+"Snow-storm," said he, "Mrs. Moodie and the children are obliged to you
+for your kindness in bringing them the grapes; but how came you to tie
+them up in a dirty shirt?"
+
+"Dirty!" cried the old man, astonished that we should object to the
+fruit on that score. "It ought to be clean; it has been washed often
+enough. Owgh! You see, Moodie," he continued, "I have no hat--never wear
+hat--want no shade to my eyes--love the sun--see all around me--up and
+down--much better widout hat. Could not put grapes in hat--blanket-coat
+too large, crush fruit, juice run out. I had noting but my shirt, so
+I takes off shirt, and brings grape safe over the water on my back.
+Papouse no care for dirty shirt; their _lee-tel bellies have no eyes_."
+
+In spite of this eloquent harangue, I could not bring myself to use the
+grapes, ripe and tempting as they looked, or give them to the children.
+Mr. W---- and his wife happening to step in at that moment, fell into
+such an ecstacy at the sight of the grapes, that, as they were perfectly
+unacquainted with the circumstance of the shirt, I very _generously_
+gratified their wishes by presenting them with the contents of the large
+dish; and they never ate a bit less sweet for the novel mode in which
+they were conveyed to me!
+
+The Indians, under their quiet exterior, possess a deal of humour. They
+have significant names for every thing, and a nickname for every one,
+and some of the latter are laughably appropriate. A fat, pompous,
+ostentatious settler in our neighbourhood they called _Muckakee_, "the
+bull-frog." Another, rather a fine young man, but with a very red face,
+they named _Segoskee_, "the rising sun." Mr. Wood, who had a farm above
+ours, was a remarkably slender young man, and to him they gave the
+appellation of _Metiz_, "thin stick." A woman, that occasionally worked
+for me, had a disagreeable squint; she was known in Indian by the
+name of _Sachabo_, "cross-eye." A gentleman with a very large nose was
+_Choojas_, "big, or ugly nose." My little Addie, who was a fair, lovely
+creature, they viewed with great approbation, and called _Anoonk_, "a
+star;" while the rosy Katie was _Nogesigook,_ "the northern lights." As
+to me, I was _Nonocosiqui_, a "humming-bird;" a ridiculous name for
+a tall woman, but it was reference to the delight I took in painting
+birds. My friend, Emilia, was "blue cloud;" my little Donald, "frozen
+face;" young C----, "the red-headed woodpecker," from the colour of his
+hair; my brother, _Chippewa_, and "the bald-headed eagle." He was an
+especial favourite among them.
+
+The Indians are often made a prey of and cheated by the unprincipled
+settlers, who think it no crime to overreach a red skin. One anecdote
+will fully illustrate this fact. A young squaw, who was near becoming
+a mother, stopped at a Smith-town settler's house to rest herself. The
+woman of the house, who was Irish, was peeling for dinner some large
+white turnips, which her husband had grown in their garden. The Indian
+had never seen a turnip before, and the appearance of the firm, white,
+juicy root gave her such a keen craving to taste it that she very
+earnestly begged for a small piece to eat. She had purchased at
+Peterborough a large stone-china bowl, of a very handsome pattern, (or,
+perhaps, got it at the store in exchange for a _basket_,) the worth of
+which might be half-a-dollar. If the poor squaw longed for the turnip,
+the value of which could scarcely reach a copper, the covetous
+European had fixed as longing a glance upon the china bowl, and she was
+determined to gratify her avaricious desire and obtain it on the most
+easy terms. She told the squaw, with some disdain, that her man did not
+grow turnips to give away to "Injuns," but she would sell her one. The
+squaw offered her four coppers, all the change she had about her. This
+the woman refused with contempt. She then proffered a basket; but that
+was not sufficient; nothing would satisfy her but the bowl. The Indian
+demurred; but opposition had only increased her craving for the turnip
+in a tenfold degree; and, after a short mental struggle, in which the
+animal propensity overcame the warnings of prudence, the squaw gave
+up the bowl, and received in return _one turnip_. The daughter of this
+woman told me this anecdote of her mother as a very clever thing. What
+ideas some people have of moral justice!
+
+I have said before that the Indian never forgets a kindness. We had a
+thousand proofs of this, when, overtaken by misfortune, and withering
+beneath the iron grasp of poverty, we could scarcely obtain bread for
+ourselves and our little ones; then it was that the truth of the Eastern
+proverb was brought home to our hearts, and the goodness of God fully
+manifested towards us, "Cast thy bread upon the waters, and thou shalt
+find it after many days." During better times we had treated these poor
+savages with kindness and liberality, and when dearer friends looked
+coldly upon us they never forsook us. For many a good meal I have been
+indebted to them, when I had nothing to give in return, when the pantry
+was empty, and "the hearth-stone growing cold," as they term the want of
+provisions to cook at it. And their delicacy in conferring these favours
+was not the least admirable part of their conduct. John Nogan, who was
+much attached to us, would bring a fine bunch of ducks, and drop them
+at my feet "for the papouse," or leave a large muskinonge on the sill
+of the door, or place a quarter of venison just within it, and slip away
+without saying a word, thinking that receiving a present from a poor
+Indian might hurt our feelings, and he would spare us the mortification
+of returning thanks.
+
+When an Indian loses one of his children, he must keep a strict fast for
+three days, abstaining from food of any kind. A hunter, of the name of
+Young, told me a curious story of their rigid observance of this strange
+rite.
+
+"They had a chief," he said, "a few years ago, whom they called
+'Handsome Jack'--whether in derision, I cannot tell, for he was one of
+the ugliest Indians I ever saw. The scarlet fever got into the camp--a
+terrible disease in this country, and doubly terrible to those poor
+creatures who don't know how to treat it. His eldest daughter died. The
+chief had fasted two days when I met him in the bush. I did not know
+what had happened, but I opened my wallet, for I was on a hunting
+expedition, and offered him some bread and dried venison. He looked at
+me reproachfully.
+
+"Do white men eat bread the first night their papouse is laid in the
+earth?"
+
+"I then knew the cause of his depression, and left him."
+
+On the night of the second day of his fast another child died of the
+fever. He had now to accomplish three more days without tasting food. It
+was too much even for an Indian. On the evening of the fourth, he was
+so pressed by ravenous hunger, that he stole into the woods, caught a
+bull-frog, and devoured it alive. He imagined himself alone, but one of
+his people, suspecting his intention, had followed him, unperceived,
+to the bush. The act he had just committed was a hideous crime in their
+eyes, and in a few minutes the camp was in an uproar. The chief fled for
+protection to Young's house. When the hunter demanded the cause of his
+alarm, he gave for answer, "There are plenty of flies at my house. To
+avoid their stings I came to you."
+
+It required all the eloquence of Mr. Young, who enjoyed much popularity
+among them, to reconcile the rebellious tribe to their chief.
+
+They are very skilful in their treatment of wounds, and many diseases.
+Their knowledge of the medicinal qualities of their plants and herbs is
+very great. They make excellent poultices from the bark of the bass
+and the slippery-elm. They use several native plants in their dyeing of
+baskets and porcupine quills. The inner bark of the swamp-alder, simply
+boiled in water, makes a beautiful red. From the root of the black
+briony they obtain a fine salve for sores, and extract a rich yellow
+dye. The inner bark of the root of the sumach, roasted, and reduced to
+powder, is a good remedy for the ague; a tea-spoonful given between
+the hot and cold fit. They scrape the fine white powder from the large
+fungus that grows upon the bark of the pine into whiskey, and take it
+for violent pains in the stomach. The taste of this powder strongly
+reminded me of quinine.
+
+I have read much of the excellence of Indian cookery, but I never could
+bring myself to taste any thing prepared in their dirty wigwams. I
+remember being highly amused in watching the preparation of a mess,
+which might have been called the Indian hotch-potch. It consisted of
+a strange mixture of fish, flesh, and fowl, all boiled together in
+the same vessel. Ducks, partridges, muskinonge, venison, and muskrats,
+formed a part of this delectable compound. These were literally
+smothered in onions, potatoes, and turnips, which they had procured from
+me. They very hospitably offered me a dishful of the odious mixture,
+which the odour of the muskrats rendered every thing but savoury; but I
+declined, simply stating that I was not hungry. My little boy tasted it,
+but quickly left the camp to conceal the effect it produced upon him.
+
+Their method of broiling fish, however, is excellent. They take a fish,
+just fresh out of the water, cut out the entrails, and, without removing
+the scales, wash it clean, dry it in a cloth, or in grease, and cover it
+all over with clear hot ashes. When the flesh will part from the bone,
+they draw it out of the ashes, strip off the skin, and it is fit for the
+table of the most fastidious epicure.
+
+The deplorable want of chastity that exists among the Indian women of
+this tribe seems to have been more the result of their intercourse with
+the settlers in the country than from any previous disposition to this
+vice. The jealousy of their husbands has often been exercised in a
+terrible manner against the offending squaws; but this has not happened
+of late years. The men wink at these derelictions in their wives, and
+share with them the price of their shame.
+
+The mixture of European blood adds greatly to the physical beauty of the
+half-race, but produces a sad falling off from the original integrity
+of the Indian character. The half-caste is generally a lying, vicious
+roguel, possessing the worst qualities of both parents in an eminent
+degree. We have many of these half-Indians in the penitentiary, for
+crimes of the blackest dye.
+
+The skill of the Indian in procuring his game, either by land or water,
+has been too well described by better writers than I could ever hope
+to be, to need any illustration from my pen, and I will close this
+long chapter with a droll anecdote which is told of a gentleman in this
+neighbourhood.
+
+The early loss of his hair obliged Mr.---- to procure the substitute
+of a wig. This was such a good imitation of nature, that none but his
+intimate friends and neighbours were aware of the fact. It happened that
+he had had some quarrel with an Indian, which had to be settled in one
+of the petty courts. The case was decided in favour of Mr.----, which so
+aggrieved the savage, who considered himself the injured party, that
+he sprang upon him with a furious yell, tomahawk in hand, with the
+intention of depriving him of his scalp. He twisted his hand in the
+locks which adorned the cranium of his adversary, when--horror of
+horrors!--the treacherous wig came off in his hand, "Owgh! owgh!"
+exclaimed the affrighted savage, flinging it from him, and rushing from
+the court as if he had been bitten by a rattlesnake. His sudden exit
+was followed by peals of laughter from the crowd, while Mr.---- coolly
+picked up his wig, and dryly remarked that it had saved his head.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+BURNING THE FALLOW.
+
+
+It is not my intention to give a regular history of our residence in the
+bush, but merely to present to my readers such events as may serve to
+illustrate a life in the woods.
+
+The winter and spring of 1834 had passed away. The latter was uncommonly
+cold and backward; so much so that we had a very heavy fall of snow upon
+the 14th and 15th of May, and several gentlemen drove down to Cobourg in
+a sleigh, the snow lying upon the ground to the depth of several inches.
+
+A late, cold spring in Canada is generally succeeded by a burning, hot
+summer; and the summer of '34 was the hottest I ever remember. No rain
+fell upon the earth for many weeks, till nature drooped and withered
+beneath one bright blaze of sunlight; and the ague and fever in the
+woods, and the cholera in the large towns and cities, spread death and
+sickness through the country.
+
+Moodie had made during the winter a large clearing of twenty acres
+around the house. The progress of the workmen had been watched by me
+with the keenest interest. Every tree that reached the ground opened
+a wider gap in the dark wood, giving us a broader ray of light and a
+clearer glimpse of the blue sky. But when the dark cedar swamp fronting
+the house fell beneath the strokes of the axe, and we got a first view
+of the lake my joy was complete: a new and beautiful object was now
+constantly before me, which gave me the greatest pleasure. By night and
+day, in sunshine or in storm, water is always the most sublime feature
+in a landscape, and no view can be truly grand in which it is wanting.
+From a child, it always had the most powerful effect upon my mind, from
+the great ocean rolling in majesty, to the tinkling forest rill, hidden
+by the flowers and rushes along its banks. Half the solitude of my
+forest home vanished when the lake unveiled its bright face to the blue
+heavens, and I saw sun and moon and stars and waving trees reflected
+there. I would sit for hours at the window as the shades of evening
+deepened round me, watching the massy foliage of the forests pictured in
+the waters, till fancy transported me back to England, and the songs of
+birds and the lowing of cattle were sounding in my ears. It was long,
+very long, before I could discipline my mind to learn and practise all
+the menial employments which are necessary in a good settler's wife.
+
+The total absence of trees about the doors in all new settlements had
+always puzzled me, in a country where the intense heat of summer seems
+to demand all the shade that can be procured. My husband had left
+several beautiful rock-elms (the most picturesque tree in the country)
+near our dwelling, but, alas! the first high gale prostrated all my fine
+trees, and left our log cottage entirely exposed to the fierce rays of
+the sun. The confusion of an uncleared fallow spread around us on
+every side. Huge trunks of trees and piles of brush gave a littered and
+uncomfortable appearance to the locality, and as the weather had been
+very dry for some weeks, I heard my husband daily talking with his
+choppers as to the expediency of firing the fallow. They still urged him
+to wait a little longer, until he could get a good breeze to carry the
+fire well through the brush.
+
+Business called him suddenly to Toronto, but he left a strict charge
+with old Thomas and his sons, who were engaged in the job, by no means
+to attempt to burn it off till he returned, as he wished to be upon the
+premises himself in case of any danger. He had previously burnt all the
+heaps immediately about the doors. While he was absent, old Thomas
+and his second son fell sick with the ague, and went home to their own
+township, leaving John, a surly, obstinate young man, in charge of the
+shanty, where they slept, and kept their tools and provisions. Monaghan
+I had sent to fetch up my three cows, as the children were languishing
+for milk, and Mary and I remained alone in the house with the little
+ones. The day was sultry, and towards noon a strong wind sprang up that
+roared in the pine tops like the dashing of distant billows, but without
+in the least degree abating the heat. The children were lying listlessly
+upon the floor for coolness, and the girl and I were finishing
+sun-bonnets, when Mary suddenly exclaimed, "Bless us, mistress, what a
+smoke!" I ran immediately to the door, but was not able to distinguish
+ten yards before me. The swamp immediately below us was on fire, and the
+heavy wind was driving a dense black cloud of smoke directly towards us.
+
+"What can this mean?" I cried, "Who can have set fire to the fallow?"
+
+As I ceased speaking, John Thomas stood pale and trembling before me.
+"John, what is the meaning of this fire?"
+
+"Oh, ma'am, I hope you will forgive me; it was I set fire to it, and I
+would give all I have in the world if I had not done it."
+
+"What is the danger?"
+
+"Oh, I'm terribly afeard that we shall all be burnt up," said the
+fellow, beginning to whimper.
+
+"Why did you run such a risk, and your master from home, and no one on
+the place to render the least assistance?"
+
+"I did it for the best," blubbered the lad. "What shall we do?"
+
+"Why, we must get out of it as fast as we can, and leave the house to
+its fate."
+
+"We can't get out," said the man, in a low, hollow tone, which seemed
+the concentration of fear; "I would have got out of it if I could; but
+just step to the back door, ma'am, and see."
+
+I had not felt the least alarm up to this minute; I had never seen a
+fallow burnt, but I had heard of it as a thing of such common occurrence
+that I had never connected with it any idea of danger. Judge then, my
+surprise, my horror, when, on going to the back door, I saw that the
+fellow, to make sure of his work, had fired the field in fifty different
+places. Behind, before, on every side, we were surrounded by a wall of
+fire, burning furiously within a hundred yards of us, and cutting off
+all possibility of retreat; for could we have found an opening through
+the burning heaps, we could not have seen our way through the dense
+canopy of smoke; and, buried as we were in the heart of the forest, no
+one could discover our situation till we were beyond the reach of help.
+I closed the door, and went back to the parlour. Fear was knocking
+loudly at my heart, for our utter helplessness annihilated all hope of
+being able to effect our escape--I felt stupefied. The girl sat upon
+the floor by the children, who, unconscious of the peril that hung over
+them, had both fallen asleep. She was silently weeping; while the fool
+who had caused the mischief was crying aloud.
+
+A strange calm succeeded my first alarm; tears and lamentations were
+useless; a horrible death was impending over us, and yet I could not
+believe that we were to die. I sat down upon the step of the door, and
+watched the awful scene in silence. The fire was raging in the cedar
+swamp, immediately below the ridge on which the house stood, and it
+presented a spectacle truly appalling. From out the dense folds of a
+canopy of black smoke, the blackest I ever saw, leaped up continually
+red forks of lurid flame as high as the tree tops, igniting the branches
+of a group of tall pines that had been left standing for sun-logs. A
+deep gloom blotted out the heavens from our sight. The air was filled
+with fiery particles, which floated even to the door-step--while the
+crackling and roaring of the flames might have been heard at a great
+distance. Could we have reached the lake shore, where several canoes
+were moored at the landing, by launching out into the water we should
+have been in perfect safety; but, to attain this object, it was
+necessary to pass through this mimic hell; and not a bird could have
+flown over it with unscorched wings. There was no hope in that quarter,
+for, could we have escaped the flames, we should have been blinded and
+choked by the thick, black, resinous smoke. The fierce wind drove the
+flames at the sides and back of the house up the clearing; and our
+passage to the road, or to the forest, on the right and left, was
+entirely obstructed by a sea of flames. Our only ark of safety was the
+house, so long as it remained untouched by the consuming element. I
+turned to young Thomas, and asked him, how long he thought that would
+be.
+
+"When the fire clears this little ridge in front, ma'am. The Lord have
+mercy upon us, then, or we must all go!"
+
+"Cannot _you_, John, try and make your escape, and see what can be done
+for us and the poor children?"
+
+My eye fell upon the sleeping angels, locked peacefully in each other's
+arms, and my tears flowed for the first time. Mary, the servant-girl,
+looked piteously up in my face. The good, faithful creature had not
+uttered one word of complaint, but now she faltered forth,
+
+"The dear, precious lambs!--Oh! such a death!"
+
+I threw myself down upon the floor beside them, and pressed them
+alternately to my heart, while inwardly I thanked God that they were
+asleep, unconscious of danger, and unable by their childish cries to
+distract our attention from adopting any plan which might offer to
+effect their escape.
+
+The heat soon became suffocating. We were parched with thirst, and there
+was not a drop of water in the house, and none to be procured nearer
+than the lake. I turned once more to the door, hoping that a passage
+might have-been burnt through to the water. I saw nothing but a dense
+cloud of fire and smoke--could hear nothing but the crackling and
+roaring of flames, which were gaining so fast upon us that I felt their
+scorching breath in my face.
+
+"Ah," thought I--and it was a most bitter thought--"what will my beloved
+husband say when he returns and finds that poor Susy and his dear girls
+have perished in this miserable manner? But God can save us yet."
+
+The thought had scarcely found a voice in my heart before the wind rose
+to a hurricane, scattering the flames on all sides into a tempest of
+burning billows. I buried my head in my apron, for I thought that our
+time was come, and that all was lost, when a most terrific crash of
+thunder burst over our heads, and, like the breaking of a water-spout,
+down came the rushing torrent of rain which had been pent up for so
+many weeks. In a few minutes the chip-yard was all afloat, and the
+fire effectually checked. The storm which, unnoticed by us, had been
+gathering all day, and which was the only one of any note we had that
+summer, continued to rage all night, and before morning had quite
+subdued the cruel enemy, whose approach we had viewed with such dread.
+
+The imminent danger in which we had been placed struck me more forcibly
+after it was past than at the time, and both the girl and myself sank
+upon our knees, and lifted up our hearts in humble thanksgiving to
+that God who had saved us by an act of His Providence from an awful and
+sudden death. When all hope from human assistance was lost, His hand
+was mercifully stretched forth, making His strength more perfectly
+manifested in our weakness:--
+
+  "He is their stay when earthly help is lost,
+   The light and anchor of the tempest-toss'd."
+
+There was one person, unknown to us, who had watched the progress of
+that rash blaze, and had even brought his canoe to the landing, in the
+hope of getting us off. This was an Irish pensioner named Dunn, who had
+cleared a few acres on his government grant, and had built a shanty on
+the opposite shore of the lake.
+
+"Faith, madam! an' I thought the captain was stark, staring mad to fire
+his fellow on such a windy day, and that blowing right from the lake to
+the house. When Old Wittals came in and towld us that the masther was
+not to the fore, but only one lad, an' the wife an' the chilther at
+home,--thinks I, there's no time to be lost, or the crathurs will be
+burnt up intirely. We started instanther, but, by Jove! We were too
+late. The swamp was all in a blaze when we got to the landing, and you
+might as well have tried to get to heaven by passing through the other
+place."
+
+This was the eloquent harangue with which the honest creature informed
+me the next morning of the efforts he had made to save us, and the
+interest he had felt in our critical situation. I felt comforted for
+my past anxiety, by knowing that one human being, however humble, had
+sympathized in our probable fate; while the providential manner in which
+we had been rescued will ever remain a theme of wonder and gratitude.
+
+The next evening brought the return of my husband, who listened to the
+tale of our escape with a pale and disturbed countenance; not a little
+thankful to find his wife and children still in the land of the living.
+For a long time after the burning of that fallow, it haunted me in my
+dreams. I would awake with a start, imagining myself fighting with the
+flames, and endeavouring to carry my little children through them to the
+top of the clearing, when invariably their garments and my own took fire
+just as I was within reach of a place of safety.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+OUR LOGGING-BEE.
+
+
+  There was a man in our town,
+  In our town, in our town--
+  There was a man in our town,
+  He made a logging-bee;
+
+    And he bought lots of whiskey,
+    To make the loggers frisky--
+    To make the loggers frisky
+      At his logging bee
+
+  The Devil sat on a log heap,
+  A log heap, a log heap--
+  A red hot burning log heap--
+  A-grinning at the bee;
+
+    And there was lots of swearing,
+    Of boasting and of daring,
+    Of fighting and of tearing,
+      At that logging bee
+
+J. W. D. M.
+
+
+A logging-bee followed the burning of the fallow, as a matter of course.
+In the bush, where hands are few, and labour commands an enormous rate
+of wages, these gatherings are considered indispensable, and much
+has been written in their praise; but, to me, they present the most
+disgusting picture of a bush life. They are noisy, riotous, drunken
+meetings, often terminating in violent quarrels, sometimes even in
+bloodshed. Accidents of the most serious nature often occur, and very
+little work is done, when we consider the number of hands employed, and
+the great consumption of food and liquor. I am certain, in our case, had
+we hired with the money expended in providing for the bee, two or three
+industrious, hard-working men, we should have got through twice as mueh
+work, and have had it done well, and have been the gainers in the end.
+
+People in the woods have a craze for giving and going to bees, and run
+to them with as much eagerness as a peasant runs to a race-course or a
+fair; plenty of strong drink and excitement making the chief attraction
+of the bee. In raising a house or barn, a bee may be looked upon as a
+necessary evil, but these gatherings are generally conducted in a more
+orderly manner than those for logging. Fewer hands are required; and
+they are generally under the control of the carpenter who puts up the
+frame, and if they get drunk during the raising they are liable to meet
+with very serious accidents.
+
+Thirty-two men, gentle and simple, were invited to our bee, and the maid
+and I were engaged for two days preceding the important one, in baking
+and cooking for the entertainment of our guests. When I looked at the
+quantity of food we had prepared, I thought that it never could be all
+eaten, even by thirty-two men. It was a burning-hot day towards the end
+of July, when our loggers began to come in, and the "gee!" and "ha!" of
+the oxen resounded on every side. There was my brother S----, with his
+frank English face, a host in himself; Lieutenant ---- in his blouse,
+wide white trowsers, and red sash, his broad straw hat shading a dark
+manly face that would have been a splendid property for a bandit chief;
+the four gay, reckless, idle sons of ----, famous at any spree, but
+incapable of the least mental or physical exertion, who considered
+hunting and fishing as the sole aim and object of life. These young men
+rendered very little assistance themselves, and their example deterred
+others who were inclined to work.
+
+There were the two R----s, who came to work and to make others work; my
+good brother-in-law, who had volunteered to be the Grog Bos, and a host
+of other settlers, among whom I recognized Moodie's old acquaintance,
+Dan Simpson, with his lank red hair and long freckled face: the Youngs,
+the hunters, with their round, black, curly heads and rich Irish brogue;
+poor C----, with his long, spare, consumptive figure, and thin, sickly
+face. Poor fellow, he has long since been gathered to his rest!
+
+There was the ruffian squatter P----, from Clear Lake,--the dread of all
+honest men; the brutal M----, who treated oxen as if they had been logs,
+by beating them with handspikes; and there was Old Wittals, with his low
+forehead and long nose, a living witness of the truth of phrenology,
+if his large organ of acquisitiveness and his want of conscientiousness
+could be taken in evidence. Yet in spite of his derelictions from
+honesty, he was a hard-working, good-natured man, who, if he cheated
+you in a bargain, or took away some useful article in mistake from your
+homestead, never wronged his employer in his day's work.
+
+He was a curious sample of cunning and simplicity--quite a character
+in his way--and the largest eater I ever chanced to know. From this
+ravenous propensity, for he eat his food like a famished wolf, he had
+obtained the singular name of "Wittals." During the first year of his
+settlement in the bush, with a very large family to provide for, he had
+been often in want of food. One day he came to my brother, with a very
+long face.
+
+"'Fore God! Mr. S---, I'm no beggar, but I'd be obliged to you for a
+loaf of bread. I declare to you on my honour that I have not had a bit
+of wittals to dewour for two whole days."
+
+He came to the right person with his petition. Mr. S---- with a liberal
+hand relieved his wants, but he entailed upon him the name of "Old
+Wittals," as part payment. His daughter, who was a very pretty girl, had
+stolen a march upon him into the wood, with a lad whom he by no
+means regarded with a favourable eye. When she returned, the old man
+confronted her and her lover with this threat, which I suppose he
+considered "the most awful" punishment that he could devise.
+
+"March into the house, Madam 'Ria (Maria); and if ever I catch you with
+that scamp again, I'll tie you up to a stump all day, and give you no
+wittals."
+
+I was greatly amused by overhearing a dialogue between Old Wittals and
+one of his youngest sons, a sharp, Yankeefied-looking boy, who had lost
+one of his eyes, but the remaining orb looked as if it could see all
+ways at once.
+
+"I say, Sol, how came you to tell that tarnation tearing lie to Mr.
+S---- yesterday? Didn't you expect that you'd catch a good wallopping
+for the like of that? Lying may be excusable in a man, but 'tis a
+terrible bad habit in a boy."
+
+"Lor', father, that worn't a lie. I told Mr. S----, our cow worn't in
+his peas. Nor more she wor; she was in his wheat."
+
+"But she was in the peas all night, boy."
+
+"That wor nothing to me; she worn't in just then. Sure I won't get a
+licking for that?"
+
+"No, no, you are a good boy; but mind what I tell you, and don't bring
+me into a scrape with any of your real lies."
+
+Prevarication, the worst of falsehoods, was a virtue in his eyes. So
+much for the old man's morality.
+
+Monaghan was in his glory, prepared to work or fight, whichever should
+come uppermost; and there was old Thomas and his sons, the contractors
+for the clearing, to expedite whose movements the bee was called. Old
+Thomas was a very ambitious man in his way. Though he did not know A
+from B, he took it into his head that he had received a call from Heaven
+to convert the heathen in the wilderness; and every Sunday he held a
+meeting in our logger's shanty, for the purpose of awakening sinners,
+and bringing over "Injun pagans" to the true faith. His method of
+accomplishing this object was very ingenious. He got his wife, Peggy--or
+"my Paggy," as he called her--to read aloud for him a text from the
+Bible, until he knew it by heart; and he had, as he said truly, "a good
+remembrancer," and never heard a striking sermon but he retained the
+most important passages, and retailed them secondhand to his bush
+audience.
+
+I must say that I was not a little surprised at the old man's eloquence
+when I went one Sunday over to the shanty to hear him preach. Several
+wild young fellows had come on purpose to make fun of him; but his
+discourse, which was upon the text, "We shall all meet before the
+judgment-seat of Christ," was rather too serious a subject to turn into
+a jest, with even old Thomas for the preacher. All went on very
+well until the old man gave out a hymn, and led off in such a loud,
+discordant voice, that my little Katie, who was standing between her
+father's knees, looked suddenly up, and said, "Mamma, what a noise old
+Thomas makes!" This remark led to a much greater noise, and the young
+men, unable to restrain their long-suppressed laughter, ran tumultuously
+from the shanty. I could have whipped the little elf; but small blame
+could be attached to a child of two years old, who had never heard a
+preacher, especially such a preacher as the old back woodsman, in
+her life. Poor man! he was perfectly unconscious of the cause of the
+disturbance, and remarked to us, after the service was over,
+
+"Well, ma'am, did not we get on famously? Now, worn't that a _bootiful_
+discourse?"
+
+"It was, indeed; much better than I expected."
+
+"Yes, yes; I knew it would please you. It had quite an effect on those
+wild fellows. A few more such sermons will teach them good behaviour.
+Ah! the bush is a bad place for young men. The farther in the bush,
+say I, the farther from God, and the nearer to hell. I told that wicked
+Captain I---- of Dummer so the other Sunday; 'an',' says he, 'if you
+don't hold your confounded jaw, you old fool, I'll kick you there.' Now,
+ma'am, now, sir, was not that bad manners in a gentleman, to use such
+_appropriate epitaphs_ to a humble servant of God, like I?"
+
+And thus the old man ran on for an hour, dilating upon his own merits
+and the sins of his neighbours.
+
+There was John R----, from Smith-town, the most notorious swearer in the
+district; a man who esteemed himself clever, nor did he want for natural
+talent, but he had converted his mouth into such a sink of iniquity that
+it corrupted the whole man, and all the weak and thoughtless of his own
+sex who admitted him into their company. I had tried to convince John
+R---- (for he often frequented the house under the pretence of borrowing
+books) of the great crime that he was constantly committing, and of the
+injurious effect it must produce upon his own family, but the mental
+disease had taken too deep a root to be so easily cured. Like a person
+labouring under some foul disease, he contaminated all he touched.
+Such men seem to make an ambitious display of their bad habits in
+such scenes, and if they afford a little help, they are sure to get
+intoxicated and make a row. There was my friend, old Ned Dunn, who had
+been so anxious to get us out of the burning fallow. There was a whole
+group of Dummer Pines: Levi, the little wiry, witty poacher; Cornish
+Bill, the honest-hearted old peasant, with his stalwart figure and
+uncouth dialect; and David and Ned--all good men and true; and Malachi
+Chroak, a queer, withered-up, monkey-man, that seemed like some
+mischievous elf, flitting from heap to heap to make work and fun for the
+rest; and many others were at that bee who have since found a rest
+in the wilderness: Adam T----, H----, J. M----, H. N---- These, at
+different times, lost their lives in those bright waters in which,
+on such occasions as these, they used to sport and frolic to refresh
+themselves during the noonday heat. Alas! how many, who were then young
+and in their prime, that river and its lakes have swept away!
+
+Our men worked well until dinner-time, when, after washing in the lake,
+they all sat down to the rude board which I had prepared for them,
+loaded with the best fare that could be procured in the bush. Pea-soup,
+legs of pork, venison, eel, and raspberry pies, garnished with plenty of
+potatoes, and whiskey to wash them down, besides a large iron kettle of
+tea. To pour out the latter, and dispense it round, devolved upon me. My
+brother and his friends, who were all temperance men, and consequently
+the best workers in the field, kept me and the maid actively employed in
+replenishing their cups.
+
+The dinner passed off tolerably well; some of the lower order of the
+Irish settlers were pretty far gone, but they committed no outrage upon
+our feelings by either swearing or bad language, a few harmless jokes
+alone circulating among them.
+
+Some one was funning Old Wittals for having eaten seven large cabbages
+at Mr. T----'s bee, a few days previous. His son, Sol, thought himself,
+as in duty bound, to take up the cudgel for his father.
+
+"Now, I guess that's a lie, anyhow. Fayther was sick that day, and I
+tell you he only ate five."
+
+This announcement was followed by such an explosion of mirth that the
+boy looked fiercely round him, as if he could scarcely believe the fact
+that the whole party were laughing at him.
+
+Malachi Chroak, who was good-naturedly drunk, had discovered an old
+pair of cracked bellows in a corner, which he placed under his arm,
+and applying his mouth to the pipe, and working his elbows to and fro,
+pretended that he was playing upon the bagpipes, every now and then
+letting the wind escape in a shrill squeak from this novel instrument.
+
+"Arrah, ladies and jintlemen, do jist turn your swate little eyes upon
+me whilst I play for your iddifications the last illigant tune which my
+owld grandmother taught me. Och hone! 'tis a thousand pities that such
+musical owld crathurs should be suffered to die, at all at all, to be
+poked away into a dirthy dark hole, when their canthles shud be burnin'
+a-top of a bushel, givin' light to the house. An' then it is she that
+was the illigant dancer, stepping out so lively and frisky, just so."
+
+And here he minced to and fro, affecting the airs of a fine lady. The
+supposititious bagpipe gave an uncertain, ominous howl, and he flung it
+down, and started back with a ludicrous expression of alarm.
+
+"Alive, is it ye are? Ye croaking owld divil, is that the tune you
+taught your son?
+
+  "Och! my owld granny taught me, but now she is dead.
+  That a dhrop of nate whiskey is good for the head;
+  It would make a man spake when jist ready to dhie,
+  If you doubt it--my boys!--I'd advise you to thry.
+
+  "Och! my owld granny sleeps with her head on a stone,--
+  'Now, Malach, don't throuble the gals when I'm gone!'
+  I thried to obey her; but, och, I am shure,
+  There's no sorrow on earth that the angels can't cure.
+
+  "Och! I took her advice--I'm a bachelor still;
+  And I dance, and I play, with such excellent skill,
+            (_Taking up the bellows, and beginning to dance._)
+  That the dear little crathurs are striving in vain
+  Which first shall my hand or my fortin' obtain."
+
+"Malach!" shouted a laughing group. "How was it that the old lady taught
+you to go a-courting?
+
+"Arrah, that's a sacret! I don't let out owld granny's sacrets," said
+Malachi, gracefully waving his head to and fro to the squeaking of the
+bellows; then, suddenly tossing back the long, dangling, black elf-locks
+that curled down the sides of his lank, yellow cheeks, and winking
+knowingly with his comical little deep-seated black eyes, he burst out
+again--
+
+  "Wid the blarney I'd win the most dainty proud dame,
+   No gal can resist the soft sonnd of that same;
+   Wid the blarney, my boys--if you doubt it, go thry--
+   But hand here the bottle, my whistle is dhry."
+
+The men went back to the field, leaving Malachi to amuse those who
+remained in the house; and we certainly did laugh our fill at his odd
+capers and conceits.
+
+Then he would insist upon marrying our maid. There could be no
+refusal--have her he would. The girl, to keep him quiet, laughingly
+promised that she would take him for her husband. This did not satisfy
+him. She must take her oath upon the Bible to that effect. Mary
+pretended that there was no bible in the house, but he found an old
+spelling-book upon a shelf in the kitchen, and upon it he made her
+swear, and called upon me to bear witness to her oath, that she was now
+his betrothed, and he would go next day with her to the "praist." Poor
+Mary had reason to repent her frolic, for he stuck close to her the
+whole evening, tormenting her to fulfil her contract. After the sun went
+down, the logging-band came in to supper, which was all ready for them.
+Those who remained sober ate the meal in peace, and quietly returned to
+their own homes; while the vicious and the drunken staid to brawl and
+fight.
+
+After having placed the supper on the table, I was so tired with the
+noise, and heat, and fatigue of the day, that I went to bed, leaving to
+Mary and my husband the care of the guests.
+
+We were obliged to endure a second and a third repetition of this odious
+scene, before sixteen acres of land were rendered fit for the reception
+of our fall crop of wheat.
+
+My hatred to these tumultuous, disorderly meetings was not in the least
+decreased by my husband being twice seriously hurt while attending them.
+After the second injury he received, he seldom went to them himself, but
+sent his oxen and servant in his place. In these odious gatherings,
+the sober, moral, and industrious man is more likely to suffer than the
+drunken and profane, as during the delirium of drink these men expose
+others to danger as well as themselves.
+
+The conduct of many of the settlers, who considered themselves
+gentlemen, and would have been very much affronted to have been called
+otherwise, was often more reprehensible than that of the poor Irish
+emigrants, to whom they should have set an example of order and
+sobriety. The behaviour of these young men drew upon them the severe but
+just censures of the poorer class, whom they regarded in every way as
+their inferiors.
+
+"That blackguard calls himself a gentleman. In what respect is he
+better than us?" was an observation too frequently made use of at these
+gatherings. To see a bad man in the very worst point of view, follow him
+to a bee; be he profane, licentious, quarrelsome, or a rogue, all his
+native wickedness will be fully developed there.
+
+Just after the last of these logging-bees, we had to part with our good
+servant Mary, and just at a time when it was the heaviest loss to me.
+Her father, who had been a dairy man in the north of Ireland, an honest,
+industrious man, had brought out upwards of one hundred pounds to
+this country. With more wisdom than is generally exercised by Irish
+emigrants, instead of sinking all his means in buying a bush farm he
+hired a very good farm in Cavan, stocked it with cattle, and returned
+to his old avocation. The services of his daughter, who was an excellent
+dairymaid, were required to take the management of the cows; and her
+brother brought a wagon and horses all the way from the front to take
+her home.
+
+This event was perfectly unexpected, and left me without a moment's
+notice to provide myself with another servant, at a time when servants
+were not to be had, and I was perfectly unable to do the least thing. My
+little Addie was sick almost to death with the summer complaint, and the
+eldest still too young to take care of herself.
+
+This was but the beginning of trouble.
+
+Ague and lake fever had attacked our new settlement. The men in the
+shanty were all down with it; and my husband was confined to his bed
+on each alternate day, unable to raise hand or foot, and raving in the
+delirium of the fever.
+
+In my sister and brother's families, scarcely a healthy person remained
+to attend upon the sick; and at Herriot's Falls, nine persons were
+stretched upon the floor of one log cabin, unable to help themselves or
+one another. After much difficulty, and only by offering enormous
+wages, I succeeded in procuring a nurse to attend upon me during my
+confinement. The woman had not been a day in the house before she was
+attacked by the same fever. In the midst of this confusion, and with
+my precious little Addie lying insensible on a pillow at the foot of my
+bed--expected every moment to breathe her last sigh,--on the night of
+the 26th of August, the boy I had so ardently coveted was born. The next
+day, Old Pine carried his wife (my nurse) away upon his back, and I
+was left to struggle through, in the best manner I could, with a sick
+husband, a sick child, and a new-born babe.
+
+It was a melancholy season, one of severe mental and bodily suffering.
+Those who have drawn such agreeable pictures of a residence in the
+backwoods never dwell upon the periods of sickness, when, far from
+medical advice, and often, as in my case, deprived of the assistance of
+friends by adverse circumstances, you are left to languish, unattended,
+upon the couch of pain. The day that my husband was free of the fit, he
+did what he eould for me and his poor sick babes, but, ill as he was, he
+was obliged to sow the wheat to enable the man to proceed with the drag,
+and was therefore necessarily absent in the field the greater part of
+the day.
+
+I was very ill, yet for hours at a time I had no friendly voice to cheer
+me, to proffer me a drink of cold water, or to attend to the poor babe;
+and worse, still worse, there was no one to help that pale, marble
+child, who lay so cold and still, with half-closed violet eye, as if
+death had already chilled her young heart in his iron grasp.
+
+There was not a breath of air in our close, burning bed-closet; and
+the weather was sultry beyond all that I have since experienced. How I
+wished that I could be transported to an hospital at home, to enjoy the
+common care that in such places is bestowed upon the sick! Bitter tears
+flowed continually from my eyes over those young children. I had asked
+of Heaven a son, and there he lay helpless by the side of his almost
+equally helpless mother, who could not lift him up in her arms, or still
+his cries; while the pale, fair angel, with her golden curls, who had
+lately been the admiration of all who saw her, no longer recognized
+my voice, or was conscious of my presence. I felt that I could almost
+resign the long and eagerly hoped-for son, to win one more smile from
+that sweet, suffering creature. Often did I weep myself to sleep, and
+wake to weep again with renewed anguish.
+
+And my poor little Katie, herself under three years of age, how
+patiently she bore the loss of my care, and every comfort! How earnestly
+the dear thing strove to help me! She would sit on my sick-bed, and hold
+my hand, and ask me to look at her and speak to her; would inquire why
+Addie slept so long, and when she would awake again. Those innocent
+questions went like arrows to my heart. Lieutenant ----, the husband of
+my dear Emilia, at length heard of my situation. His inestimable wife
+was from home, nursing her sick mother; but he sent his maid-servant
+up every day for a couple of hours, and the kind girl despatched a
+messenger nine miles through the woods to Dummer, to fetch her younger
+sister, a child of twelve ears old.
+
+Oh, how grateful I felt for these signal mercies! for my situation for
+nearly a week was one of the most pitiable that could be imagined. The
+sickness was so prevalent that help was not to be obtained for money;
+and without the assistance of that little girl, young as she was, it is
+more than probable that neither myself nor my children would ever have
+risen from that bed of sickness.
+
+The conduct of our man Jacob, during this trying period, was marked with
+the greatest kindness and consideration. On the days that his master was
+confined to his bed with the fever, he used to place a vessel of cold
+water and a cup by his bedside, and then put his honest English face
+in at my door to know if he could make a cup of tea, or toast a bit of
+bread for the mistress, before he went into the field.
+
+Katie was indebted to him for all her meals. He baked, and cooked,
+and churned, milked the cows, and made up the butter, as well and as
+carefully as the best female servant could have done. As to poor John
+Monaghan, he was down with the fever in the shanty, where four other men
+were all ill the same terrible complaint.
+
+I was obliged to leave my bed and endeavour to attend to the wants of my
+young family long before I was really able. When I made my first attempt
+to reach the parlour I was so weak, that, at every step, I felt as if I
+should pitch forward to the ground, which seemed to undulate beneath my
+feet like the floor of a cabin in a storm at sea. My husband continued
+to suffer for many weeks with the ague; and when he was convalescent,
+all the children, even the poor babe, were seized with it; nor did it
+leave us until late in the spring of 1835.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+A TRIP TO STONY LAKE
+
+
+My husband had long promised me a trip to Stony Lake, and in the summer
+of 1835, before the harvest commenced, he gave Mr. Y----, who kept the
+mill at the rapids below Clear Lake, notice of our intention, and the
+worthy old man and his family made due preparation for our reception.
+The little girls were to accompany us.
+
+We were to start at sunrise, to avoid the heat of the day, to go up
+as far as Mr. Y----'s in our canoe, re-embark with his sons above
+the rapids in birch-bark canoes, go as far up the lake as we could
+accomplish by daylight, and return at night; the weather being very
+warm, and the moon at full. Before six o'clock we were all seated in the
+little craft, which spread her white sail to a foaming breeze, and sped
+merrily over the blue waters. The lake on which our clearing stood was
+about a mile and a half in length, and about three quarters of a mile in
+breadth; a mere pond, when compared with the Bay of Quinte, Ontario, and
+the inland seas of Canada. But it was _our_ lake, and, consequently,
+it had ten thousand beauties in our eyes, which would scarcely have
+attracted the observation of a stranger.
+
+At the head of the Kutchawanook, the lake is divided by a long neck of
+land, that forms a small bay on the right-hand side, and a very brisk
+rapid on the left. The banks are formed of large masses of limestone;
+and the cardinal-flower and the tiger-lily seem to have taken an
+especial fancy to this spot, and to vie with each other in the display
+of their gorgeous colours.
+
+It is an excellent place for fishing; the water is very deep close to
+the rocky pavement that forms the bank, and it has a pebbly bottom.
+Many a magic hour, at rosy dawn, or evening gray, have I spent with
+my husband on this romantic spot; our canoe fastened to a bush, and
+ourselves intent upon ensnaring the black bass, a fish of excellent
+flavour that abounds in this place.
+
+Our paddles soon carried us past the narrows, and through the rapid
+water, the children sitting quietly at the bottom of the boat,
+enchanted with all they heard and saw, begging papa to stop and gather
+water-lilies, or to catch one of the splendid butterflies that hovered
+over us; and often the little Addie darted her white hand into the water
+to grasp at the shadow of the gorgeous insects as they skimmed along the
+waves.
+
+After passing the rapids, the river widened into another small lake,
+perfectly round in form, and having in its centre a tiny green island,
+in the midst of which stood, like a shattered monument of bygone storms,
+one blasted, black ash-tree.
+
+The Indians call this lake Bessikakoon, but I do not know the exact
+meaning of the word. Some say that it means "the Indian's grave;"
+others, "the lake of the one island." It is certain that an Indian
+girl is buried beneath that blighted tree; but I never could learn the
+particulars of her story, and perhaps there was no tale connected with
+it. She might have fallen a victim to disease during the wanderings of
+her tribe, and been buried on that spot; or she might have been drowned,
+which would account for her having been buried away from the rest of her
+people.
+
+This little lake lies in the heart of the wilderness. There is but one
+clearing upon its shores, and that had been made by lumberers many years
+before; the place abounded with red cedar. A second growth of young
+timber had grown up in this spot, which was covered also with raspberry
+bushes--several hundred acres being entirely overgrown with this
+delicious berry.
+
+It was here annually that we used to come in large picnic parties, to
+collect this valuable fruit for our winter preserves, in defiance of
+black-flies, mosquitoes, snakes, and even bears; all which have been
+encountered by berry-pickers upon this spot, as busy and as active as
+themselves, gathering an ample repast from Nature's bounteous lap.
+
+And, oh! what beautiful wild shrubs and flowers grew up in that
+neglected spot! Some of the happiest hours I spent in the bush
+are connected with reminiscences of "Irving's shanty," for so the
+raspberry-grounds were called. The clearing could not be seen from the
+shore. You had to scramble through a cedar swamp to reach the sloping
+ground which produced the berries.
+
+The mill at the Clear Lake rapids was about three miles distant from our
+own clearing; and after stemming another rapid, and passing between
+two beautiful wooded islands, the canoe rounded a point, and the rude
+structure was before us.
+
+A wilder and more romantic spot than that which the old hunter had
+chosen for his homestead in the wilderness could scarcely be imagined.
+The waters of Clear Lake here empty themselves through a narrow, deep,
+rocky channel, not exceeding a quarter of a mile in length, and tumble
+over a limestone bridge of ten or twelve feet in height, which extends
+from one bank of the river to the other. The shores on either side are
+very steep, and the large oak-trees which have anchored their roots
+in every crevice of the rock, throw their fantastic arms far over the
+foaming waterfall, the deep green of their massy foliage forming a
+beautiful contrast with the white, flashing waters that foam over the
+shoot at least fifty feet below the brow of the limestone rock. By a
+flight of steps cut in the banks we ascended to the platform above the
+river on which Mr. Y----'s house stood.
+
+It was a large, rough-looking, log building, surrounded by barns and
+sheds of the same primitive material. The porch before the door was
+covered with hops, and the room of general resort, into which it
+immediately opened, was of large dimensions, the huge fire-place forming
+the most striking feature. On the hearth-stone, hot as was the weather,
+blazed a great fire, encumbered with all sorts of culinary apparatus,
+which, I am inclined to think, had been called into requisition for our
+sole benefit and accommodation.
+
+The good folks had breakfasted long before we started from home, but
+they would not hear of our proceeding to Stony Lake until after we had
+dined. It was only eight o'clock, A. M., and we had still four hours to
+dinner, which gave us ample leisure to listen to the old man's stories,
+ramble round the premises, and observe all the striking features of the
+place.
+
+Mr. Y---- was a Catholic, and the son of a respectable farmer from the
+south of Ireland. Some few years before, he had emigrated with a large
+family of seven sons and two daughters, and being fond of field sports,
+and greatly taken with the beauty of the locality in which he had
+pitched his tent in the wilderness, he determined to raise a mill upon
+the dam which Nature had provided at his hands, and wait patiently
+until the increasing immigration should settle the township of Smith and
+Douro, render the property valuable, and bring plenty of grist to the
+mill. He was not far wrong in his calculations; and though, for the
+first few years, he subsisted entirely by hunting, fishing, and raising
+what potatoes and wheat he required for his own family, on the most
+fertile spots he could find on his barren lot, very little corn passed
+through the mill.
+
+At the time we visited his place, he was driving a thriving trade, and
+all the wheat that was grown in the neighbourhood was brought by water
+to be ground at Y----'s mill. He had lost his wife a few years after
+coming to the country; but his two daughters, Betty and Norah, were
+excellent housewives, and amply supplied her loss. From these amiable
+women we received a most kind and hearty welcome, and every comfort
+and luxury within their reach. They appeared a most happy and contented
+family. The sons--a fine, hardy, independent set of fellows--were
+regarded by the old man with pride and affection. Many were his
+anecdotes of their prowes in hunting and fishing. His method of giving
+them an aversion to strong drink while very young amused me greatly, but
+it is not every child that could have stood the test of his experiment.
+
+"When they were little chaps, from five to six years of age, I made them
+very drunk," he said; "so drunk that it brought on severe headache and
+sickness, and this so disgusted them with liquor, that they never could
+abide the sight of it again. I have only one drunkard among the seven;
+and he was such a weak, puling crathur, that I dared not play the same
+game with him, lest it should kill him. 'Tis his nature, I suppose, and
+he can't help it; but the truth is, that to make up for the sobriety of
+all the rest, he is killing himself with drink."
+
+Norah gave us an account of her catching a deer that had got into the
+enclosure the day before.
+
+"I went out," she said, "early in the morning, to milk the cows, and I
+saw a fine young buck struggling to get through a pale of the fence,
+in which having entangled his head and horns, I knew, by the desperate
+efforts he was making to push aside the rails, that if I was not quick
+in getting hold of him, he would soon be gone."
+
+"And did you dare to touch him?"
+
+"If I had had Mat's gun I would have shot him, but he would have made
+his escape long before I could run to the house for that, so I went
+boldly up to him and got him by the hind legs; and though he kicked and
+struggled dreadfully, I held on till Mat heard me call, and ran to
+my help, and cut his throat with his hunting-knife. So you see,"
+she continued, with a good-natured laugh, "I can beat our hunters
+hollow--they hunt the deer, but I can catch a buck with my hands."
+
+While we were chatting away, great were the preparations making by Miss
+Betty and a very handsome American woman, who had recently come thither
+as a help. One little bare-footed garsoon was shelling peas in an Indian
+basket, another was stringing currants into a yellow pie-dish, and a
+third was sent to the rapids with his rod and line, to procure a dish of
+fresh fish to add to the long list of bush dainties that were preparing
+for our dinner. It was in vain that I begged our kind entertainers not
+to put themselves to the least trouble on our account, telling them that
+we were now used to the woods, and contented with any thing; they
+were determined to exhaust all their stores to furnish forth the
+entertainment. Nor can it be wondered at, that, with so many dishes to
+cook, and pies and custards to bake, instead of dining at twelve, it
+was past two o'clock before we were conducted to the dinner-table. I was
+vexed and disappointed at the delay, as I wanted to see all I could of
+the spot we were about to visit before night and darkness compelled us
+to return.
+
+The feast was spread in a large outhouse, the table being formed of
+two broad deal boards laid together, and supported by rude carpenter's
+stools. A white linen cloth, a relic of better days, concealed these
+arrangements. The board was covered with an indescribable variety of
+roast and boiled, of fish, flesh, and fowl. My readers should see a
+table laid out in a wealthy Canadian farmer's house before they can have
+any idea of the profusion displayed in the entertainment of two visitors
+and their young children. Besides venison, pork, chickens, ducks, and
+fish of several kinds, cooked in a variety of ways, there was a number
+of pumpkin, raspberry, cherry, and currant pies, with fresh butter and
+green cheese (as the new cream-cheese is called), molasses, preserves,
+and pickled cucumbers, besides tea and coffee--the latter, be it known,
+I had watched the American woman boiling in the _frying-pan_. It was a
+black-looking compound, and I did not attempt to discuss its merits. The
+vessel in which it had been prepared had prejudiced me, and rendered me
+very skeptical on that score.
+
+We were all very hungry, having tasted nothing since five o'clock in the
+morning, and contrived, out of the variety of good things before us, to
+make an excellent dinner.
+
+I was glad, however, when we rose to prosecute our intended trip up the
+lake. The old man, whose heart was now thoroughly warmed with whiskey,
+declared that he meant to make one of the party, and Betty, too, was to
+accompany us; her sister Norah kindly staying behind to take care of
+the children. We followed a path along the top of the high ridge of
+limestone rock, until we had passed the falls and the rapids above, when
+we found Pat and Mat Y---- waiting for us on the shore below, in two
+beautiful new birch-bark canoes, which they had purchased the day before
+from the Indians.
+
+Miss Betty, Mat, and myself, were safely stowed into one, while the old
+miller and his son Pat, and my husband, embarked in the other, and our
+steersmen pushed off into the middle of the deep and silent stream; the
+shadow of the tall woods, towering so many feet above us, casting
+an inky hue upon the waters. The scene was very imposing, and after
+paddling for a few minutes in shade and silence, we suddenly emerged
+into light and sunshine, and Clear Lake, which gets its name from the
+unrivalled brightness of its waters, spread out its azure mirror before
+us. The Indians regard this sheet of water with peculiar reverence. It
+abounds in the finest sorts of fish, the salmon-trout, the delicious
+white fish, muskenonge, and black and white bass. There is no island
+in this lake, no rice beds, nor stick nor stone, to break its tranquil
+beauty, and, at the time we visited it, there was but one clearing upon
+its shores.
+
+The log hut of the squatter P----, commanding a beautiful prospect up
+and down the lake, stood upon a bold slope fronting the water; all the
+rest was unbroken forest. We had proceeded about a mile on our
+pleasant voyage, when our attention was attracted by a singular natural
+phenomenon, which Mat Y---- called the battery. On the right-hand side
+of the shore rose a steep, perpendicular wall of limestone, that had the
+appearance of having been laid by the hand of man, so smooth and even
+was its surface. After attaining a height of about fifty feet, a natural
+platform of eight or ten yards broke the perpendicular line of the
+rock, when another wall, like the first, rose to a considerable height,
+terminating in a second and third platform of the same description.
+
+Fire, at some distant period, had run over these singularly beautiful
+terraces, and a second growth of poplars and balm-of-gileads relieved,
+by their tender green and light, airy foliage, the sombre indigo tint of
+the heavy pines that nodded like the plumes of a funeral-hearse over
+the fair young dwellers on the rock. The water is forty feet deep at
+the base of this precipice, which is washed by the waves. After we had
+passed the battery, Mat Y---- turned to me and said, "That is a famous
+place for bears; many a bear have I shot among those rocks."
+
+This led to a long discussion on the wild beasts of the country.
+
+"I do not think that there is much danger to be apprehended from them,"
+said he; "but I once had an ugly adventure with a wolf two winters ago,
+on this lake."
+
+I was all curiosity to hear the story, which sounded doubly interesting
+told on the very spot, and while gliding over those lovely waters.
+
+"We were lumbering at the head of Stony Lake, about eight miles from
+here, my four brothers, myself, and several other hands. The winter was
+long and severe; although it was the first week in March, there was not
+the least appearance of a thaw, and the ice on these lakes was as
+firm as ever. I had been sent home to fetch a yoke of oxen to draw the
+saw-logs down to the water, our chopping being all completed, and the
+logs ready for rafting.
+
+"I did not think it necessary to encumber myself with my rifle, and was,
+therefore, provided with no weapon of defence but the long gad I used
+to urge on the cattle. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when
+I rounded Sandy Point, that long point which is about a mile ahead of us
+on the left shore, when I first discovered that I was followed, but at
+a great distance, by a large wolf. At first, I thought little of the
+circumstance, beyond a passing wish that I had brought my gun. I knew
+that he would not attack me before dark, and it was still two long hours
+to sundown; so I whistled, and urged on my oxen and soon forgot the
+wolf--when, on stopping to repair a little damage to the peg of the
+yoke, I was surprised to find him close at my heels. I turned, and ran
+towards him, shouting as loud as I could, when he slunk back, but showed
+no inclination to make off. Knowing that he must have companions near,
+by his boldness, I shouted as loud as I could, hoping that my cries
+might be heard by my brothers, who would imagine that the oxen had got
+into the ice, and would come to my assistance. I was now winding my way
+through the islands in Stony Lake; the sun was setting red before me,
+and I had still three miles of my journey to accomplish. The wolf had
+become so impudent that I kept him off by pelting him with snowballs;
+and once he came so near that I struck him with the gad. I now began
+to be seriously alarmed, and from time to time shouted with all my
+strength; and you may imagine my joy when these cries were answered by
+the report of a gun. My brothers had heard me, and the discharge of a
+gun, for a moment, seemed to daunt the wolf. He uttered a long howl,
+which was answered by the cries of a large pack of the dirty brutes from
+the wood. It was only just light enough to distinguish objects, and I
+had to stop and face my enemy, to keep him at bay.
+
+"I saw the skeleton forms of half-a-dozen more of them slinking among
+the bushes that skirted a low island; and tired and cold, I gave myself
+and the oxen up for lost, when I felt the ice tremble on which I stood,
+and heard men running at a distance. 'Fire your guns!' I cried out, as
+loud as I could. My order was obeyed, and such a yelling and howling
+immediately filled the whole forest as would have chilled your very
+heart. The thievish varmints instantly fled away into the bush.
+
+"I never felt the least fear of wolves until that night; but when they
+meet in large bands, like cowardly dogs, they trust to their numbers,
+and grow fierce. If you meet with one wolf, you may be certain that the
+whole pack are at no great distance."
+
+We were fast approaching Sandy Point a long white ridge of sand, running
+half across the lake, and though only covered with scattered groups of
+scrubby trees and brush, it effectually screened Stony Lake from our
+view. There were so many beautiful flowers peeping through the dwarf,
+green bushes, that, wishing to inspect them nearer, Mat kindly ran the
+canoe ashore, and told me that he would show me a pretty spot, where an
+Indian, who had been drowned during a storm off that point, was buried.
+I immediately recalled the story of Susan Moore's father, but Mat
+thought that he was interred upon one of the islands farther up.
+
+"It is strange," he said, "that they are such bad swimmers. The Indian,
+though unrivalled by us whites in the use of the paddle, is an animal
+that does not take readily to the water, and those among them who can
+swim seldom use it as a recreation."
+
+Pushing our way through the bushes, we came to a small opening in
+the underwood, so thickly grown over with wild Canadian roses in full
+blossom, that the air was impregnated with a delightful odour. In the
+centre of this bed of sweets rose the humble mound that protected
+the bones of the red man from the ravenous jaws of the wolf and the
+wild-cat. It was completely covered with stones, and from among the
+crevices had sprung a tuft of blue harebells, waving as wild and free
+as if they grew among the bonny red heather on the glorious hills of the
+North, or shook their tiny bells to the breeze on the broom-encircled
+commons of England.
+
+The harebell had always from a child been with me a favourite flower;
+and the first sight of it in Canada, growing upon that lonely grave, so
+flooded my soul with remembrances of the past, that, in spite of myself,
+the tears poured freely from my eyes. There are moments when it is
+impossible to repress those outgushings of the heart--
+
+  "Those flood-gates of the soul that sever.
+  In passion's tide to part for ever."
+
+If Mat and his sister wondered at my tears, they must have suspected
+the cause, for they walked to a little distance, and left me to the
+indulgence of my feelings. I gathered those flowers, and placed them
+in my bosom, and kept them for many a day; they had become holy, when
+connected with sacred home recollections, and the never-dying affections
+of the heart which the sight of them recalled.
+
+A shout from our companions in the other canoe made us retrace our steps
+to the shore. They had already rounded the point, and were wondering at
+our absence. Oh, what a magnificent scene of wild and lonely grandeur
+burst upon us as we swept round the little peninsula, and the whole
+majesty of Stony Lake broke upon us at once; another Lake of the
+Thousand Isles, in miniature, and in the heart of the wilderness!
+Imagine a large sheet of water, some fifteen miles in breadth and
+twenty-five in length, taken up by islands of every size and shape, from
+the lofty naked rock of red granite to the rounded hill, covered with
+oak-leaves to its summit; while others were level with the waters, and
+of a rich emerald green, only fringed with a growth of aquatic shrubs
+and flowers. Never did my eyes rest on a more lovely or beautiful scene.
+Not a vestige of man, or of his works was there. The setting sun,
+that cast such a gorgeous flood of light upon this exquisite panorama,
+bringing out some of these lofty islands in strong relief, and casting
+others into intense shade, shed no cheery beam upon church spire or
+cottage pane. We beheld the landscape, savage and grand in its primeval
+beauty.
+
+As we floated among the channels between these rocky picturesque isles,
+I asked Mat how many of them there were.
+
+"I never could succeed," he said, "in counting them all."
+
+One Sunday, Pat and I spent a whole day in going from one to the other,
+to try and make out how many there were, but we could only count up to
+one hundred and forty before we gave up the task in despair. There are
+a great many of them; more than any one would think--and, what is very
+singular, the channel between them is very deep, sometimes above forty
+feet, which accounts for the few rapids to be found in this lake. It is
+a glorious place for hunting; and the waters undisturbed by steamboats,
+abound in all sorts of fish.
+
+"Most of these islands are covered with huckleberries; white
+grapes, high and low-bush cranberries, blackberries, wild cherries,
+gooseberries, and several sorts of wild currants grow here in profusion.
+There is one island among these groups (but I never could light upon the
+identical one) where the Indians yearly gather their wampum-grass. They
+come here to collect the best birch bark for their canoes, and to
+gather wild onions. In short, from the game, fish, and fruit, which they
+collect among the islands of this lake, they chiefly depend for their
+subsistence. They are very jealous of the settlers in the country
+coming to hunt and fish here, and tell many stories of wild beasts and
+rattlesnakes that abound along its shores; but I, who have frequented
+the lake for years, was never disturbed by any thing, beyond the
+adventure with the wolf, which I have already told you. The banks of
+this lake are all steep and rocky, and the land along the shore is
+barren, and totally unfit for cultivation.
+
+"Had we time to run up a few miles further, I could have showed you some
+places well worth a journey to look at; but the sun is already down, and
+it will be dark before we get back to the mill."
+
+The other canoe now floated alongside, and Pat agreed with his brother
+that it was high time to return. With reluctance I turned from this
+strangely fascinating scene. As we passed under one bold rocky island,
+Mat said, laughingly, "That is Mount Rascal."
+
+"How did it obtain that name?"
+
+"Oh, we were out here berrying, with our good priest Mr. B----. This
+island promised so fair, that we landed upon it, and, after searching
+for an hour, we returned to the boat without a single berry, upon which
+Mr. B---- named it 'Mount Rascal.'"
+
+The island was so beautiful, it did not deserve the name, and I
+christened it "Oak Hill," from the abundance of oak-trees which clothed
+its steep sides. The wood of this oak is so heavy and hard that it will
+not float in the water, and it is in great request for the runners of
+lumber-sleighs, which have to pass over very bad roads.
+
+The breeze, which had rendered our sail up the lakes so expeditious
+and refreshing, had stiffened into a pretty high wind, which was dead
+against us all the way down. Betty now knelt in the bow and assisted
+her brother, squaw fashion, in paddling the canoe; but, in spite of all
+their united exertions, it was past ten o'clock before we reached the
+mill. The good Norah was waiting tea for us. She had given the children
+their supper four hours ago, and the little creatures, tired with using
+their feet all day, were sound asleep upon her bed.
+
+After supper, several Irish songs were sung, while Pat played upon the
+fiddle, and Betty and Mat enlivened the company with an Irish jig.
+
+It was midnight when the children were placed on my cloak at the bottom
+of the canoe, and we bade adieu to this hospitable family. The wind
+being dead against us, we were obliged to dispense with the sail, and
+take to our paddles. The moonlight was as bright as day, the air warm
+and balmy; and the aromatic, resinous smell exuded by the heat from the
+balm-of-gilead and the pine-trees, in the forest, added greatly to our
+sense of enjoyment as we floated past scenes so wild and lonely--isles
+that assumed a mysterious look and character in that witching hour.
+In moments like these, I ceased to regret my separation from my native
+land; and, filled with the love of Nature, my heart forgot for the time
+the love of home. The very spirit of peace seemed to brood over the
+waters, which were broken into a thousand ripples of light by every
+breeze that stirred the rice blossoms, or whispered through the
+shivering aspen-trees. The far-off roar of the rapids, softened by
+distance, and the long, mournful cry of the night-owl, alone broke the
+silence of the night. Amid these lonely wilds the soul draws nearer
+to God, and is filled to overflowing by the overwhelming sense of His
+presence.
+
+It was two o'clock in the morning when we fastened the canoe to the
+landing, and Moodie carried up the children to the house. I found
+the girl still up with my boy, who had been very restless during our
+absence. My heart reproached me, as I caught him to my breast, for
+leaving him so long; in a few minutes he was consoled for past sorrows,
+and sleeping sweetly in my arms.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+DISAPPOINTED HOPES.
+
+
+The summer of '35 was very wet; a circumstance so unusual on Canada
+that I have seen no season like it during my sojourn in the country. Our
+wheat crop promised to be both excellent and abundant; and the clearing
+and seeding sixteen acres, one way or another, had cost us more than
+fifty pounds; still, we hoped to realize something handsome by the sale
+of the produce; and, as far as appearances went, all looked fair. The
+rain commenced about a week before the crop was fit for the sickle, and
+from that time until nearly the end of September was a mere succession
+of thunder showers; days of intense heat, succeeded by floods of rain.
+Our fine crop shared the fate of all other fine crops in the country; it
+was totally spoiled; the wheat grew in the sheaf, and we could scarcely
+save enough to supply us with bad, sticky bread; the rest was exchanged
+at the distillery for whiskey, which was the only produce which could be
+obtained for it. The storekeepers would not look at it, or give either
+money or goods for such a damaged article.
+
+My husband and I had worked hard in the field; it was the first time
+I had ever tried my hand at field-labour, but our ready money was
+exhausted, and the steamboat stock had not paid us one farthing; we
+could not hire, and there was no help for it. I had a hard struggle with
+my pride before I would consent to render the least assistance on the
+farm, but reflection convinced me that I was wrong--that Providence had
+placed me in a situation where I was called upon to work--that it was
+not only my duty to obey that call, but to exert myself to the utmost to
+assist my husband, and help to maintain my family.
+
+Ah, glorious poverty! thou art a hard taskmaster, but in thy
+soul-ennobling school, I have received more god-like lessons, have
+learned more sublime truths, than ever I acquired in the smooth highways
+of the world! The independent in soul can rise above the seeming
+disgrace of poverty, and hold fast their integrity, in defiance of
+the world and its selfish and unwise maxims. To them, no labour is too
+great, no trial too severe; they will unflinchingly exert every faculty
+of mind and body, before they will submit to become a burden to others.
+
+The misfortunes that now crowded upon us were the result of no
+misconduct or extravagance on our part, but arose out of circumstances
+which we could not avert nor control. Finding too late the error into
+which we had fallen, in suffering ourselves to be cajoled and plundered
+out of our property by interested speculators, we braced our minds
+to bear the worst, and determined to meet our difficulties calmly and
+firmly, nor suffer our spirits to sink under calamities which energy and
+industry might eventually repair. Having once come to this resolution,
+we cheerfully shared together the labours of the field. One in heart and
+purpose, we dared remain true to ourselves, true to our high destiny as
+immortal creatures, in our conflict with temporal and physical wants. We
+found that manual toil, however distasteful to those unaccustomed to it,
+was not after all such a dreadful hardship; that the wilderness was
+not without its rose, the hard face of poverty without its smile. If
+we occasionally suffered severe pain, we as often experienced great
+pleasure, and I have contemplated a well-hoed ridge of potatoes on that
+bush farm,--with as much delight as in years long past I had experienced
+in examining a fine painting in some well-appointed drawing-room.
+
+I can now look back with calm thankfulness on that long period of trial
+and exertion--with thankfulness that the dark clouds that hung over us,
+threatening to blot us from existence, when they did burst upon us, were
+full of blessings. When our situation appeared perfectly desperate, then
+were we on the threshold of a new state of things, which was born out of
+that very distress.
+
+In order more fully to illustrate the necessity of a perfect and
+childlike reliance upon the mercies of God--who, I most firmly believe,
+never deserts those who have placed their trust in Him--I will give a
+brief sketch of our lives during the years 1836 and 1837.
+
+Still confidently expecting to realize an income, however small, from
+the steamboat stock, we had involved ourselves considerably in debt, in
+order to pay our servants and obtain the common necessaries of life; and
+we owed a large sum to two Englishmen in Dummer, for clearing ten more
+acres upon the farm. Our utter inability to meet these demands weighed
+very heavily upon my husband's mind. All superfluities in the way of
+groceries were now given up, and we were compelled to rest satisfied
+upon the produce of the farm. Milk, bread, and potatoes, during the
+summer became our chief, and often, for months, our only fare. As to tea
+and sugar, they were luxuries we would not think of, although I missed
+the tea very much; we rang the changes upon peppermint and sage, taking
+the one herb at our breakfast, the other at our tea, until I found an
+excellent substitute for both in the root of the dandelion.
+
+The first year we came to this country, I met with an account of
+dandelion coffee, published in the _New York Albion_, given by a Dr.
+Harrison, of Edinburgh, who earnestly recommended it as an article of
+general use.
+
+"It possesses," he says, "all the fine flavour and exhilarating
+properties of coffee, without any of its deleterious effects. The plant
+being of a soporific nature, the coffee made from it when drank at night
+produces a tendency to sleep, instead of exciting wakefulness, and
+may be safely used as a cheap and wholesome substitute for the Arabian
+berry, being equal in substance and flavour to the best Mocha coffee."
+
+I was much struck with this paragraph at the time, and for several years
+felt a great inclination to try the Doctor's coffee; but something
+or other always came in the way, and it was put off till another
+opportunity. During the fall of '35, I was assisting my husband in
+taking up a crop of potatoes in the field, and observing a vast number
+of fine dandelion roots among the potatoes, it brought the dandelion
+coffee back to my memory, and I determined to try some for our supper.
+Without saying anything to my husband, I threw aside some of the
+roots, and when we left work, collecting a sufficient quantity for, the
+experiment, I carefully washed the roots quite clean, without depriving
+them of the fine brown skin which covers them, and which contains the
+aromatic flavour, which so nearly resembles coffee that it is difficult
+to distinguish it from it while roasting. I cut my roots into small
+pieces, the size of a kidney-bean, and roasted them on an iron
+baking-pan in the stove-oven, until they were as brown and crisp as
+coffee. I then ground and transferred a small cupful of the powder to
+the coffee-pot, pouring upon it scalding water, and boiling it for a few
+minutes briskly over the fire. The result was beyond my expectations.
+The coffee proved excellent--far superior to the common coffee we
+procured at the stores.
+
+To persons residing in the bush, and to whom tea and coffee are very
+expensive articles of luxury, the knowledge of this valuable property
+in a plant, scattered so abundantly through their fields, would prove
+highly beneficial. For years we used no other article; and my Indian
+friends who frequented the house gladly adopted the root, and made me
+show them the whole process of manufacturing it into coffee.
+
+Experience taught me that the root of the dandelion is not so good, when
+applied to this purpose, in the spring as it is in the fall. I tried
+it in the spring, but the juice of the plant, having contributed to the
+production of leaves and flowers, was weak, and destitute of the fine
+bitter flavour so peculiar to coffee. The time of gathering in the
+potato crop is the best suited for collecting and drying the roots of
+the dandelion; and as they always abound in the same hills, both may
+be accomplished at the same time. Those who want to keep a quantity for
+winter use may wash and cut up the roots, and dry them on boards in the
+sun. They will keep for years, and can be roasted when required.
+
+Few of our colonists are acquainted with the many uses to which this
+neglected but most valuable plant may be applied. I will point out a
+few which have come under my own observation, convinced as I am that the
+time will come when this hardy weed, with its golden flowers and curious
+seed-vessels, which form a constant plaything to the little children
+rolling about and luxuriating among the grass, in the sunny month of
+May, will be transplanted into our gardens, and tended with due
+care. The dandelion planted in trenches, and blanched to a beautiful
+cream-colour with straw, makes an excellent salad, quite equal to
+endive, and is more hardy and requires less care.
+
+In many parts of the United States, particularly in new districts where
+vegetables are scarce, it is used early in the spring, and boiled with
+pork as a substitute for cabbage. During our residence in the bush
+we found it, in the early part of May, a great addition to the
+dinner-table. In the township of Dummer, the settlers boil the tops, and
+add hops to the liquor, which they ferment, and from which they obtain
+excellent beer. I have never tasted this simple beverage, but I have
+been told by those who use it that it is equal to the table-beer used at
+home.
+
+Necessity has truly been termed the mother of invention, for I contrived
+to manufacture a variety of dishes almost out of nothing, while living
+in her school. When entirely destitute of animal food, the different
+variety of squirrels supplied us with pies, stews, and roasts. Our barn
+stood at the top of the hill near the bush, and in a trap set for such
+"small deer," we often caught from ten to twelve a-day.
+
+The flesh of the black squirrel is equal to that of the rabbit, and the
+red, and even the little chissmunk, is palatable when nicely cooked. But
+from the lake, during the summer, we derived the larger portion of our
+food. The children called this piece of water "Mamma's pantry," and
+many a good meal has the munificent Father given to his poor dependent
+children from its well-stored depths. Moodie and I used to rise by
+daybreak, and fish for an hour after sunrise, when we returned, he to
+the field, and I to dress the little ones, clean up the house, assist
+with the milk, and prepare the breakfast.
+
+Oh, how I enjoyed these excursions on the lake! The very idea of our
+dinner depending upon our success, added double zest to our sport.
+
+One morning we started as usual before sunrise; a thick mist still hung
+like a fine veil upon the water when we pushed off, and anchored at our
+accustomed place. Just as the sun rose, and the haze parted and drew up
+like a golden sheet of transparent gauze, through which the dark woods
+loomed out like giants, a noble buck dashed into the water, followed by
+four Indian hounds.
+
+We then discovered a canoe, full of Indians, just below the rapids, and
+another not many yards from us, that had been concealed by the fog.
+It was a noble sight, that gallant deer exerting all his energy, and
+stemming the water with such matchless grace, his branching horns held
+proudly aloft, his broad nostrils distended, and his fine eye fixed
+intently upon the opposite shore. Several rifle-balls whizzed past him,
+the dogs followed hard upon his track, but my very heart leaped for joy
+when, in spite of all his foes, his glossy hoofs spurned the opposite
+bank and he plunged headlong into the forest.
+
+My beloved partner was most skilful in trolling for bass and muskinonge.
+His line he generally fastened to the paddle, and the motion of the oar
+gave a life-like vibration to the queer-looking mice and dragon-flies
+I used to manufacture from squirrel fur, or scarlet and white cloth, to
+tempt the finny wanderers of the wave.
+
+When too busy himself to fish for our meals, little Katie and I ventured
+out alone in the canoe, which we anchored in any promising fishing spot,
+by fastening a harrow tooth to a piece of rope, and letting it drop from
+the side of the little vessel. By the time she was five years old, my
+little mermaid could both steer and paddle the light vessel, and catch
+small fish, which were useful for soup.
+
+During the winter of '36, we experienced many privations. The ruffian
+squatter P----, from Clear Lake, drove from the barn a fine young bull
+we were rearing, and for several weeks all trace of the animal was lost.
+We had almost forgotten the existence of poor Whiskey, when a neighbour
+called and told Moodie that his yearling was at P----'s, and that he
+would advise him to get it back as soon as possible. Moodie had to
+take some wheat to Y----'s mill, and as the squatter lived only a mile
+further, he called at his house; and there, sure enough, he found the
+lost animal. With the greatest difficulty he succeeded in regaining his
+property, but not without many threats of vengeance from the parties who
+had stolen it. To these he paid no regard; but a few days after, six fat
+hogs, on which we depended for all our winter store of animal food, were
+driven into the lake, and destroyed. The death of these animals deprived
+us of three barrels of pork, and half starved us through the winter.
+That winter of '36, how heavily it wore away! The grown flour, frosted
+potatoes, and scant quantity of animal food rendered us all weak, and
+the children suffered much from the ague.
+
+One day, just before the snow fell, Moodie had gone to Peterborough for
+letters; our servant was sick in bed with the ague, and I was nursing my
+little boy, Dunbar, who was shaking with the cold fit of his miserable
+fever, when Jacob put his honest, round, rosy face in at the door.
+
+"Give me the master's gun, ma'am; there's a big buck feeding on the
+rice-bed near the island."
+
+I took down the gun, saying, "Jacob, you have no chance; there is but
+one charge of buck-shot in the house."
+
+"One chance is better nor none," said Jacob, as he commenced loading the
+gun. "Who knows what may happen to oie. Mayhap oie may chance to kill
+'un; and you and the measter and the wee bairns may have zummut zavory
+for zupper yet."
+
+Away walked Jacob with Hoodie's "Manton" over his shoulder. A few
+minutes after, I heard the report of the gun, but never expected to see
+anything of the game; when Jacob suddenly bounced into the room, half
+wild with delight.
+
+"Thae beast iz dead az a door-nail. Zure, how the measter will laugh
+when he zees the fine buck that oie a' zhot."
+
+"And have you really shot him?"
+
+"Come and zee! Tis worth your while to walk down to the landing to look
+at 'un."
+
+Jacob got a rope, and I followed him to the landing, where, sure enough,
+lay a fine buck, fastened in tow of the canoe. Jacob soon secured him by
+the hind legs to the rope he had brought; and, with our united efforts,
+we at last succeeded in dragging our prize home. All the time he was
+engaged in taking off the skin, Jacob was anticipating the feast that we
+were to have; and the good fellow chuckled with delight when he hung the
+carcass quite close to the kitchen door, that his "measter" might run
+against it when he came home at night. This event actually took place.
+When Moodie opened the door, he struck his head against the dead deer.
+
+"What have you got here?"
+
+"A fine buck, zur," said Jacob, bringing forward the light, and holding
+it up in such a manner that all the merits of the prize could be seen at
+a glance.
+
+"A fine one, indeed! How did we come by it?"
+
+"It was zhot by oie," said Jacob, rubbing his hands in a sort of
+ecstacy. "Thae beast iz the first oie ever zhot in my life. He! he! he!"
+
+"You shot that fine deer, Jacob?--and there was only one charge in the
+gun! Well done; you must have taken a good aim."
+
+"Why, zur, oie took no aim at all. Oie just pointed the gun at the deer,
+and zhut my oeys an let fly at 'un. 'Twas Providence kill'd 'un, not
+oie."
+
+"I believe you," said Moodie; "Providence has hitherto watched over us
+and kept us from actual starvation."
+
+The flesh of the deer, and the good broth that I was able to obtain from
+it, greatly assisted in restoring our sick to health; but long before
+that severe winter terminated we were again out of food. Mrs. ---- had
+given to Katie, in the fall, a very pretty little pig, which she
+had named Spot. The animal was a great favourite with Jacob and the
+children, and he always received his food from their hands at the door
+and followed them all over the place like a dog. We had a noble hound
+called Hector, between whom and the pet pig there existed the most
+tender friendship. Spot always shared with Hector the hollow log which
+served him for a kennel, and we often laughed to see Hector lead Spot
+round the clearing by his ear. After bearing the want of animal food
+until our souls sickened at the bad potatoes and grown flour bread, we
+began--that is the eldest of the family--to cast very hungry eyes upon
+Spot; but no one liked to propose having him killed. At last Jacob spoke
+his mind upon the subject.
+
+"Oi've heard, zur, that the Jews never eat pork; but we Christians dooz,
+and are right glad ov the chance. Now, zur, oi've been thinking that'tis
+no manner ov use our keeping that beast Spot. If he wor a zow, now,
+there might be zome zenze in the thing; and we all feel weak for a
+morzel of meat. S'poze I kill him? He won't make a bad piece of pork."
+
+Moodie seconded the move; and, in spite of the tears and prayers of
+Katie, her uncouth pet was sacrificed to the general wants of the
+family; but there were two members of the house who disdained to eat a
+morsel of the victim; poor Katie and the dog Hector. At the self-denial
+of the first I did not at all wonder, for she was a child full of
+sensibility and warm affections, but the attachment of the brute
+creature to his old playmate filled us all with surprise. Jacob first
+drew our attention to the strange fact.
+
+"That dog," he said, as we were passing through the kitchen while he was
+at dinner, "do teach uz Christians a lesson how to treat our friends.
+Why, zur, he'll not eat a morzel of Spot. Oie have tried and tempted him
+in all manner ov ways, and he only do zneer and turn up his nose when
+oie hould him a bit to taste." He offered the animal a rib of the fresh
+pork as he finished speaking, and the dog turned away with an expression
+of aversion, and on a repetition of the act, walked from the table.
+Human affection could scarcely have surpassed the love felt by this poor
+animal for his playfellow. His attachment to Spot, that could overcome
+the pangs of hunger--for, like the rest of us, he was half starved--must
+have been strong indeed.
+
+Jacob's attachment to us, in its simplicity and fidelity, greatly
+resembled that of the dog; and sometimes, like the dog, he would push
+himself in where he was not wanted, and gratuitously give his advice,
+and make remarks which were not required.
+
+Mr. K----, from Cork, was asking Moodie many questions about the
+partridges of the country; and, among other things, he wanted to know
+by what token you were able to discover their favourite haunts. Before
+Moodie could answer this last query a voice responded, through a large
+crack in the boarded wall which separated us from the kitchen, "They
+always bides where they's drum." This announcement was received with a
+burst of laughter that greatly disconcerted the natural philosopher in
+the kitchen.
+
+On the 21st of May of this year, my second son, Donald, was born. The
+poor fellow came in hard times. The cows had not calved, and our bill
+of fare, now minus the deer and Spot, only consisted of bad potatoes and
+still worse bread. I was rendered so weak by want of proper nourishment
+that my dear husband, for my sake, overcame his aversion to borrowing,
+and procured a quarter of mutton from a friend. This, with kindly
+presents from neighbours--often as badly off as ourselves--a loin of
+a young bear, and a basket, containing a loaf of bread, some tea, some
+fresh butter, and oatmeal, went far to save my life.
+
+Shortly after my recovery, Jacob--the faithful, good Jacob was obliged
+to leave us, for we could no longer afford to pay wages. What was owing
+to him had to be settled by sacrificing our best cow, and a great many
+valuable articles of clothing from my husband's wardrobe. Nothing is
+more distressing than being obliged to part with articles of dress
+which you know that you cannot replace. Almost all my clothes had been
+appropriated to the payment of wages, or to obtain garments for the
+children, excepting my wedding-dress, and the beautiful baby-linen
+which had been made by the hands of dear and affectionate friends for
+my first-born. These were now exchanged for coarse, warm flannels,
+to shield her from the cold. Moodie and Jacob had chopped eight acres
+during the winter, but these had to be burnt off and logged-up before we
+could put in a crop of wheat for the ensuing fall. Had we been able to
+retain this industrious, kindly English lad, this would have been soon
+accomplished; but his wages, at the rate of thirty pounds per annum,
+were now utterly beyond our means.
+
+Jacob had formed an attachment to my pretty maid, Mary Pine, and
+before going to the Southern States, to join an uncle who resided in
+Louisville, an opulent tradesman, who had promised to teach him his
+business, Jacob thought it as well to declare himself. The declaration
+took place on a log of wood near the back door, and from my chamber
+window I could both hear and see the parties, without being myself
+observed. Mary was seated very demurely at one end of the log, twisting
+the strings of her checked apron, and the loving Jacob was busily
+whittling the other extremity of their rustic seat. There was a long
+silence. Mary stole a look at Jacob, and he heaved a tremendous sigh,
+something between a yawn and a groan. "Meary," he said, "I must go."
+
+"I knew that afore," returned the girl.
+
+"I had zummat to zay to you, Meary. Do you think you will miss oie?"
+(looking very affectionately, and twitching nearer.)
+
+"What put that into your head, Jacob?" This was said very demurely.
+
+"Oie thowt, maybe, Meary, that your feelings might be zummat loike my
+own. I feel zore about the heart, Meary, and it's all com' of parting
+with you. Don't you feel queerish, too?"
+
+"Can't say that I do, Jacob. I shall soon see you again," (pulling
+violently at her apron-string.)
+
+"Meary, oi'm afeard you don't feel like oie."
+
+"P'r'aps not--women can't feel like men. I'm sorry that you are going,
+Jacob, for you have been very kind and obliging, and I wish you well."
+
+"Meary," cried Jacob, growing desperate at her coyness, and getting
+quite close up to her, "will you marry oie? Say yeez or noa."
+
+This was coming close to the point. Mary drew farther from him, and
+turned her head away.
+
+"Meary," said Jacob, seizing upon the hand that held the apron-string,
+"do you think you can better yoursel'? If not--why, oie'm your man. Now,
+do just turn about your head and answer oie."
+
+The girl turned round, and gave him a quick, shy glance, then burst out
+into a simpering laugh.
+
+"Meary, will you take oie?" (jogging her elbow.)
+
+"I will," cried the girl, jumping up from the log, and running into the
+house.
+
+"Well, that bargain's made," said the lover, rubbing his hands; "and
+now, oie'll go and bid measter and missus good-buoy."
+
+The poor fellow's eyes were full of tears, for the children, who loved
+him very much, clung, crying, about his knees. "God bless yees all,"
+sobbed the kind-hearted creature. "Doan't forget Jacob, for he'll neaver
+forget you. Goodbuoy!"
+
+Then turning to Mary, he threw his arms round her neck, and bestowed
+upon her fair cheek the most audible kiss I ever heard.
+
+"And doan't you forget me, Meary. In two years oie will be back to marry
+you; and maybe oie may come back a rich man."
+
+Mary, who was an exceedingly pretty girl, shed some tears at the
+parting; but in a few days, she was as gay as ever, and listening
+with great attention to the praises bestowed upon her beauty by an old
+bachelor, who was her senior by five-and-twenty years. But then he had
+a good farm, a saddle mare, and plenty of stock, and was reputed to have
+saved money. The saddle mare seemed to have great weight in old Ralph
+T----h's wooing; and I used laughingly to remind Mary of her absent
+lover, and beg her not to marry Ralph T----h's mare.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE LITTLE STUMPY MAN.
+
+
+Before I dismiss for ever the troubles and sorrows of 1836, I would fain
+introduce to the notice of my readers some of the odd characters with
+whom we became acquainted during that period. The first that starts
+vividly to my recollection is the picture of a short, stumpy, thick-set
+man--a British sailor, too--who came to stay one night under our roof,
+and took quiet possession of his quarters for nine months, and whom we
+were obliged to tolerate from the simple fact that we could not get rid
+of him.
+
+During the fall, Moodie had met this individual (whom I will call
+Mr. Malcolm) in the mail-coach going up to Toronto. Amused with his
+eccentric and blunt manners, and finding him a shrewd, clever fellow in
+conversation, Moodie told him that if ever he came into his part of the
+world he should be glad to renew their acquaintance. And so they parted,
+with mutual good-will, as men often part who have travelled a long
+journey in good fellowship together, without thinking it probable they
+should ever meet again.
+
+The sugar season had just commenced with the spring thaw; Jacob had
+tapped a few trees in order to obtain sap to make molasses for the
+children, when his plans were frustrated by the illness of my husband,
+who was again attacked with the ague. Towards the close of a wet, sloppy
+night, while Jacob was in the wood, chopping, and our servant gone to
+my sister, who was ill, to help to wash, as I was busy baking bread for
+tea, my attention was aroused by a violent knocking at the door, and
+the furious barking of our dog, Hector. I ran to open it, when I found
+Hector's teeth clenched in the trowsers of a little, dark, thick-set
+man, who said in a gruff voice,
+
+"Call off; our dog. What the devil do you keep such an infernal brute
+about the house for? Is it to bite people who come to see you?"
+
+Hector was the best-behaved, best-tempered animal in the world; he
+might have been called a gentlemanly dog. So little was there of the
+unmannerly puppy in his behaviour, that I was perfectly astonished at
+his ungracious conduct. I caught him by the collar, and not without some
+difficulty, succeeded in dragging him off.
+
+"Is Captain Moodie within?" said the stranger.
+
+"He is, sir. But he is ill in bed--too ill to be seen."
+
+"Tell him a friend," (he laid a strong stress upon the last word,) "a
+particular friend must speak to him."
+
+I now turned my eyes to the face of the speaker with some curiosity. I
+had taken him for a mechanic, from his dirty, slovenly appearance; and
+his physiognomy was so unpleasant that I did not credit his assertion
+that he was a friend of my husband, for I was certain that no man who
+possessed such a forbidding aspect could be regarded by Moodie as a
+friend. I was about to deliver his message, but the moment I let go
+Hector's collar, the dog was at him again.
+
+"Don't strike him with your stick," I cried, throwing my arms over the
+faithful creature. "He is a powerful animal, and if you provoke him, he
+will kill you."
+
+I at last succeeded in coaxing Hector into the girl's room, where I shut
+him up, while the stranger came into the kitchen, and walked to the fire
+to dry his wet clothes.
+
+I immediately went into the parlour, where Moodie was lying upon a bed
+near the stove, to deliver the stranger's message; but before I could
+say a word, he dashed in after me, and going up to the bed held out
+his broad, coarse hand, with, "How are you, Mr. Moodie. You see I have
+accepted your kind invitation sooner than either you or I expected. If
+you will give me house-room for the night I shall be obliged to you."
+
+This was said in a low, mysterious voice: and Moodie, who was still
+struggling with the hot fit of his disorder, and whose senses were not
+a little confused, stared at him with a look of vague bewilderment. The
+countenance of the stranger grew dark.
+
+"You cannot have forgotten me--my name is Malcolm."
+
+"Yes, yes; I remember you now," said the invalid, holding out his
+burning, feverish hand. "To my home, such as it is, you are welcome."
+
+I stood by in wondering astonishment, looking from one to the other, as
+I had no recollection of ever hearing my husband mention the name of the
+stranger; but as he had invited him to share our hospitality, I did
+my best to make him welcome, though in what manner he was to be
+accommodated puzzled me not a little. I placed the arm-chair by the
+fire, and told him that I would prepare tea for him as soon as I could.
+
+"It may be as well to tell you, Mrs. Moodie," said he sulkily, for he
+was evidently displeased by my husband's want of recognition on his
+first entrance, "that I have had no dinner."
+
+I sighed to myself, for I well knew that our larder boasted of no
+dainties; and from the animal expression of our guest's face. I rightly
+judged that he was fond of good living.
+
+By the time I had fried a rasher of salt pork, and made a pot of
+dandelion coffee, the bread I had been preparing was baked; but grown
+flour will not make light bread, and it was unusually heavy. For the
+first time I felt heartily ashamed of our humble fare. I was sure that
+he for whom it was provided was not one to pass it over in benevolent
+silence. "He might be a gentleman," I thought, "but he does not look
+like one;" and a confused idea of who he was, and where Moodie had met
+with him, began to float through my mind. I did not like the appearance
+of the man, but I consoled myself that he was only to stay for one
+night, and I could give up my bed for that one night, and sleep on a bed
+on the floor by my sick husband. When I re-entered the parlour to cover
+the table, I found Moodie fallen asleep, and Mr. Malcolm reading. As I
+placed the tea-things on the table, he raised his head, and regarded
+me with a gloomy stare. He was a strange-looking creature; his features
+were tolerably regular, his complexion dark, with a good colour, his
+very broad and round head was covered with a perfect mass of close,
+black, curling hair, which, in growth, texture, and hue, resembled
+the wiry, curly hide of a water-dog. His eyes and mouth were both
+well-shaped, but gave, by their sinister expression, an odious and
+doubtful meaning to the whole of his physiognomy. The eyes were cold,
+insolent, and cruel, and as green as the eyes of a cat. The mouth
+bespoke a sullen, determined, and sneering disposition, as if it
+belonged to one brutally obstinate, one who could not by any gentle
+means be persuaded from his purpose. Such a man in a passion, would have
+been a terrible wild beast; but the current of his feelings seemed to
+flow in a deep sluggish channel, rather than in a violent or impetuous
+one; and, like William Penn, when he reconnoitred his unwelcome visitors
+through the keyhole of the door, I looked at my strange guest, and liked
+him not. Perhaps my distant and constrained manner made him painfully
+aware of the fact, for I am certain that, from that first hour of our
+acquaintance, a deep-rooted antipathy existed between us, which time
+seemed rather to strengthen than diminish.
+
+He ate of his meal sparingly, and with evident disgust; the only remarks
+which dropped from him were:
+
+"You make bad bread in the bush. Strange, that you can't keep your
+potatoes from the frost! I should have thought that you could have had
+things more comfortable in the woods."
+
+"We have been very unfortunate," I said, "since we came to the woods. I
+am sorry that you should be obliged to share the poverty of the land.
+It would have given me much pleasure could I have set before you a more
+comfortable meal."
+
+"Oh, don't mention it. So that I get good pork and potatoes I shall be
+contented."
+
+What did these words imply?--an extension of his visit? I hoped that I
+was mistaken; but before I could lose any time in conjecture my husband
+awoke. The fit had left him, and he rose and dressed himself, and was
+soon chatting cheerfully with his guest.
+
+Mr. Malcolm now informed him that he was hiding from, the sheriff of the
+N---- district's officers, and that it would be conferring upon him
+a great favour if he would allow him to remain at his house for a few
+weeks.
+
+"To tell you the truth, Malcolm," said Moodie, "we are so badly off that
+we can scarcely find food for ourselves and the children. It is out
+of our power to make you comfortable, or to keep an additional hand,
+without he is willing to render some little help on the farm. If you can
+do this, I will endeavour to get a few necessaries on credit, to make
+your stay more agreeable."
+
+To this proposition Malcolm readily assented, not only because it
+released him from all sense of obligation but because it gave him a
+privilege to grumble.
+
+Finding that his stay might extend to an indefinite period, I got
+Jacob to construct a rude bedstead out of two large chests that had
+transported some of our goods across the Atlantic, and which he put up
+in a corner of the parlour. This I provided with a small hair-mattress,
+and furnished with what bedding I could spare.
+
+For the first fortnight of his sojourn, our guest did nothing but lie
+upon that bed, and read, and smoke, and drink whiskey and water from
+morning until night. By degrees he let out part of his history; but
+there was a mystery about him which he took good care never to clear up.
+He was the son of an officer in the navy, who had not only attained a
+very high rank in the service, but, for his gallant conduct, had been
+made a Knight-Companion of the Bath.
+
+He had himself served his time as a midshipman on board his father's
+flag-ship, but had left the navy and accepted a commission in the
+Buenos-Ayrean service during the political struggles in that province;
+he had commanded a sort of privateer under the government, to whom, by
+his own account, he had rendered many very signal services. Why he
+left South America and came to Canada he kept a profound secret. He had
+indulged in very vicious and dissipated courses since he came to the
+province, and by his own account had spent upwards of four thousand
+pounds, in a manner not over creditable to himself. Finding that his
+friends would answer his bills no longer, he took possession of a grant
+of land obtained through his father's interest, up in Hersey, a barren
+township on the shores of Stony Lake; and, after putting up his shanty,
+and expending all his remaining means, he found that he did not possess
+one acre out of the whole four hundred that would yield a crop of
+potatoes. He was now considerably in debt, and the lands, such as they
+were, had been seized, with all his effects, by the sheriff, and a
+warrant was out for his own apprehension, which he contrived to elude
+during his sojourn with us. Money he had none; and, beyond the dirty
+fearnought blue seaman's jacket which he wore, a pair of trowsers of
+the coarse cloth of the country, an old black vest that had seen better
+days, and two blue-checked shirts, clothes he had none. He shaved but
+once a week, never combed his hair, and never washed himself. A dirtier
+or more slovenly creature never before was dignified by the title of
+a gentleman. He was, however, a man of good education, of excellent
+abilities, and possessed a bitter, sarcastic knowledge of the world; but
+he was selfish and unprincipled in the highest degree.
+
+His shrewd observations and great conversational powers had first
+attracted my husband's attention, and, as men seldom show their bad
+qualities on a journey, he thought him a blunt, good fellow, who had
+travelled a great deal, and could render himself a very agreeable
+companion by a graphic relation of his adventures. He could be all this,
+when he chose to relax from his sullen, morose mood; and, much as I
+disliked him, I have listened with interest for hours to his droll
+descriptions of South American life and manners.
+
+Naturally indolent, and a constitutional grumbler, it was with the
+greatest difficulty that Moodie could get him to do any thing beyond
+bringing a few pails of water from the swamp for the use of the house,
+and he has often passed me carrying water up from the lake without
+offering to relieve me of the burden. Mary, the betrothed of Jacob,
+called him a perfect beast; but he, returning good for evil, considered
+_her_ a very pretty girl, and paid her so many uncouth attentions that
+he roused the jealousy of honest Jake, who vowed that he would give him
+a good "loomping" if he only dared to lay a finger upon his sweetheart.
+With Jacob to back her, Mary treated the "zea-bear," as Jacob termed
+him, with vast disdain, and was so saucy to him that, forgetting his
+admiration, he declared he would like to serve her as the Indians had
+done a scolding woman in South America. They attacked her house during
+the absence of her husband, cut out her tongue, and nailed it to the
+door, by way of knocker; and he thought that all women who could not
+keep a civil tongue in their head should be served in the same manner.
+
+"And what should be done to men who swear and use ondacent language?"
+quoth Mary, indignantly. "Their tongues should be slit, and given to the
+dogs. Faugh! You are such a nasty fellow that I don't think Hector would
+eat your tongue."
+
+"I'll kill that beast," muttered Malcolm, as he walked away.
+
+I remonstrated with him on the impropriety of bandying words with our
+servants. "You see," I said, "the disrespect with which they treat you;
+and if they presume upon your familiarity, to speak to our guest in this
+contemptuous manner, they will soon extend the same conduct to us."
+
+"But, Mrs. Moodie, you should reprove them."
+
+"I cannot, sir, while you continue, by taking liberties with the girl,
+and swearing at the man, to provoke them to retaliation."
+
+"Swearing! What harm is there in swearing? A sailor cannot live without
+oaths."
+
+"But a gentleman might. Mr. Malcolm. I should be sorry to consider you
+in any other light."
+
+"Ah, you are such a prude--so methodistical--you make no allowance
+for circumstances! Surely, in the woods we may dispense with the
+hypocritical, conventional forms of society, and speak and act as we
+please."
+
+"So you seem to think; but you see the result."
+
+"I have never been used to the society of ladies, and cannot fashion my
+words to please them; and I won't, that's more!" he muttered to himself,
+as he strode off to Moodie in the field. I wished from my very heart
+that he was once more on the deck of his piratical South American craft.
+
+One night he insisted on going out in the canoe to spear muskinonge with
+Moodie. The evening turned out very chill and foggy, and, before twelve,
+they returned, with only one fish, and half frozen with cold. Malcolm
+had got twinges of rheumatism, and he fussed, and sulked, and swore, and
+quarrelled with every body and every thing, until Moodie, who was highly
+amused by his petulance, advised him to go to his bed, and pray for the
+happy restoration of his temper.
+
+"Temper!" he cried, "I don't believe there's a good-tempered person in
+the world. It's all hypocrisy! I never had a good temper! My mother
+was an ill-tempered woman, and ruled my father, who was a confoundedly
+severe, domineering man. I was born in an ill temper. I was an
+ill-tempered child; I grew up an ill-tempered man. I feel worse than ill
+tempered now, and when I die it will be in an ill temper."
+
+"Well," quoth I, "Moodie has made you a tumbler of hot punch, which may
+help to drive out the cold and the ill temper, and cure the rheumatism."
+
+"Ay; your husband's a good fellow, and worth two of you, Mrs. Moodie.
+He makes some allowance for the weakness of Human nature, and can excuse
+even my ill temper."
+
+I did not choose to bandy words with him, and the next day the
+unfortunate creature was shaking with the ague. A more intractable,
+outrageous, _im_-patient I never had the ill fortune to nurse. During
+the cold fit, he did nothing but swear at the cold, and wished himself
+roasting; and during the fever, he swore at the heat, and wished that he
+was sitting, in no other garment than his shirt, on the north side of
+an iceberg. And when the fit at last left him, he got up, and ate such
+quantities of fat pork, and drank so much whiskey-punch, that you would
+have imagined he had just arrived from a long journey, and had not
+tasted food for a couple of days.
+
+He would not believe that fishing in the cold night-air upon the water
+had made him ill, but raved that it was all my fault for having laid my
+baby down on his bed while it was shaking with the ague.
+
+Yet, if there were the least tenderness mixed up in his iron nature,
+it was the affection he displayed for that young child. Dunbar was just
+twenty months old, with bright, dark eyes, dimpled cheeks, and soft,
+flowing, golden hair, which fell round his infant face in rich curls.
+The merry, confiding little creature formed such a contrast to his own
+surly, unyielding temper, that, perhaps, that very circumstance made the
+bond of union between them. When in the house, the little boy was seldom
+out of his arms, and whatever were Malcolm's faults, he had none in
+the eyes of the child, who used to cling around his neck, and kiss his
+rough, unshaven cheeks with the greatest fondness.
+
+"If I could afford it, Moodie," he said one day to my husband, "I should
+like to marry. I want some one upon whom I could vent my affections."
+And wanting that some one in the form of woman, he contented himself
+with venting them upon the child.
+
+As the spring advanced, and after Jacob left us, he seemed ashamed of
+sitting in the house doing nothing, and therefore undertook to make us
+a garden, or "to make garden," as the Canadians term preparing a few
+vegetables for the season. I procured the necessary seeds, and watched
+with no small surprise the industry with which our strange visitor
+commenced operations. He repaired the broken fence, dug the ground with
+the greatest care, and laid it out with a skill and neatness of which
+I had believed him perfectly incapable. In less than three weeks, the
+whole plot presented a very pleasing prospect, and he was really elated
+by his success.
+
+"At any rate," said he, "we shall no longer be starved on bad flour and
+potatoes. We shall have peas, and beans, and beets, and carrots, and
+cabbage in abundance; besides the plot I have reserved for cucumbers and
+melons."
+
+"Ah," thought I, "does he, indeed, mean to stay with us until the melons
+are ripe?" and my heart died within me, for he not only was a great
+additional expense, but he gave a great deal of additional trouble, and
+entirely robbed us of all privacy, as our very parlour was converted
+into a bedroom for his accommodation; besides that, a man of his
+singularly dirty habits made a very disagreeable inmate.
+
+The only redeeming point in his character, in my eyes, was his love for
+Dunbar. I could not entirely hate a man who was so fondly attached to my
+child. To the two little girls he was very cross, and often chased them
+from him with blows. He had, too, an odious way of finding fault with
+every thing. I never could cook to please him; and he tried in the
+most malicious way to induce Moodie to join in his complaints. All his
+schemes to make strife between us, however, failed, and were generally
+visited upon himself. In no way did he ever seek to render me the least
+assistance. Shortly after Jacob left us, Mary Price was offered higher
+wages by a family at Peterborough, and for some time I was left with
+four little children, and without a servant. Moodie always milked the
+cows, because I never could overcome my fear of cattle; and though I
+had occasionally milked when there was no one else in the way, it was in
+fear and trembling.
+
+Moodie had to go down to Peterborough; but before he went, he begged
+Malcolm to bring me what water and wood I required, and to stand by
+the cattle while I milked the cows, and he would himself be home before
+night. He started at six in the morning, and I got the pail to go and
+milk. Malcolm was lying upon his bed, reading.
+
+"Mr. Malcolm, will you be so kind as to go with me to the fields for a
+few minutes while I milk?"
+
+"Yes!" (then, with a sulky frown,)--"but I want to finish what I am
+reading."
+
+"I will not detain you long."
+
+"Oh, no! I suppose about an hour. You are a shocking bad milker."
+
+"True; I never went near a cow until I came to this country; and I have
+never been able to overcome my fear of them."
+
+"More shame for you! A farmer's wife, and afraid of a cow! Why, these
+little children would laugh at you."
+
+I did not reply, nor would I ask him again. I walked slowly to the
+field, and my indignation made me forget my fear. I had just finished
+milking, and with a brimming pail was preparing to climb the fence
+and return to the house, when a very wild ox we had came running with
+headlong speed from the wood. All my fears were alive again in a moment.
+I snatched up the pail, and, instead of climbing the fence and getting
+to the house, I ran with all the speed I could command down the steep
+hill towards the lake shore, my feet caught in a root of the many stumps
+in the path, and I fell to the ground, my pail rolling many yards ahead
+of me. Every drop of my milk was spilt upon the grass. The ox passed
+on. I gathered myself up and returned home. Malcolm was very fond of new
+milk, and he came to me at the door.
+
+"Hi! hi!--Where's the milk?"
+
+"No milk for the poor children to-day," said I, showing him the inside
+of the pail, with a sorrowful shake of the head, for it was no small
+loss to them and me.
+
+"How the devil's that? So you were afraid to milk the cows. Come away,
+and I will keep off the buggaboos."
+
+"I did milk them--no thanks to your kindness, Mr. Malcolm--but--"
+
+"But what?"
+
+"The ox frightened me, and I fell and spilt all the milk."
+
+"Whew! Now don't go and tell your husband that it was all my fault; if
+you had had a little patience, I would have come when you asked me, but
+I don't choose to be dictated to, and I won't be made a slave by you or
+any one else."
+
+"Then why do you stay, sir, where you consider yourself so treated?"
+said I. "We are all obliged to work to obtain bread; we give you the
+best share--surely the return we ask for it is but small."
+
+"You make me feel my obligations to you when you ask me to do any thing;
+if you left it to my better feelings we should get on better."
+
+"Perhaps you are right. I will never ask you to do any thing for me in
+future."
+
+"Oh, now, that's all mock humility. In spite of the tears in your eyes,
+you are as angry with me as ever; but don't go to make mischief between
+me and Moodie. If you'll say nothing about my refusing to go with you,
+I'll milk the cows for you myself to-night."
+
+"And can you milk?" said I, with some curiosity.
+
+"Milk! Yes; and if I were not so confoundedly low-spirited and ----
+lazy, I could do a thousand other things too. But now, don't say a word
+about it to Moodie."
+
+I made no promise; but my respect for him was not increased by his
+cowardly fear of reproof from Moodie, who treated him with a kindness
+and consideration which he did not deserve. The afternoon turned out
+very wet, and I was sorry that I should be troubled with his company all
+day in the house. I was making a shirt for Moodie from some cotton that
+had been sent me from home, and he placed himself by the side of the
+stove, just opposite, and continued to regard me for a long time with
+his usual sullen stare. I really felt half afraid of him.
+
+"Don't you think me mad?" said he. "I have a brother deranged; he got
+a stroke of the sun in India, and lost his senses in consequence; but
+sometimes I think it runs in the family."
+
+What answer could I give to this speech, but mere evasive commonplace?
+
+"You won't say what you really think," he continued; "I know you hate
+me, and that makes me dislike you. Now what would you say if I told
+you I had committed a murder, and that it was the recollection of that
+circumstance that made me at times so restless and unhappy?"
+
+I looked up in his face, not knowing what to believe.
+
+"'Tis fact," said he, nodding his head; and I hoped that he would not go
+mad, like his brother, and kill me.
+
+"Come, I'll tell you all about it; I know the world would laugh at me
+for calling such an act _murder_; and yet I have been such a miserable
+man ever since, that I _feel_ it was.
+
+"There was a noted leader among the rebel Buenos-Ayreans, whom the
+government wanted much to get hold of. He was a fine, dashing, handsome
+fellow; I had often seen him, but we never came to close quarters. One
+night, I was lying wrapped up in my poncho at the bottom of my boat,
+which was rocking in the surf, waiting for two of my men, who were gone
+on shore. There came to the shore, this man and one of his people, and
+they stood so near the boat, which I suppose they thought empty, that I
+could distinctly hear their conversation. I suppose it was the devil who
+tempted me to put a bullet through that man's heart. He was an enemy to
+the flag under which I fought, but he was no enemy to me--I had no right
+to become his executioner; but still the desire to kill him, for the
+mere deviltry of the thing, came so strongly upon me that I no longer
+tried to resist it. I rose slowly upon my knees; the moon was shining
+very bright at the time, both he and his companion were too earnestly
+engaged to see me, and I deliberately shot him through the body. He fell
+with a heavy groan back into the water; but I caught the last look he
+threw up to the moonlight skies before his eyes glazed in death. Oh,
+that look!--so full of despair, of unutterable anguish; it haunts me
+yet--it will haunt me for ever. I would not have cared if I had killed
+him in strife--but in cold blood, and he so unsuspicious of his doom!
+Yes, it was murder; I know by this constant tugging at my heart that it
+was murder. What do you say to it?"
+
+"I should think as you do, Mr. Malcolm. It is a terrible thing to take
+away the life of a fellow-creature without the least provocation."
+
+"Ah! I knew you would blame me; but he was an enemy after all; I had a
+right to kill him; I was hired by the government under whom I served to
+kill him: and who shall condemn me?"
+
+"No one more than your own heart."
+
+"It is not the heart, but the brain, that must decide in questions of
+right and wrong," said he. "I acted from impulse, and shot the man; had
+I reasoned upon it for five minutes, that man would be living now. But
+what's done cannot be undone. Did I ever show you the work I wrote upon
+South America?"
+
+"Are you an author," said I, incredulously.
+
+"To be sure I am. Murray offered me L100 for my manuscript, but I would
+not take it. Shall I read to you some passages from it?"
+
+I am sorry to say that his behaviour in the morning was uppermost in my
+thoughts, and I had no repugnance in refusing.
+
+"No, don't trouble yourself. I have the dinner to cook, and the children
+to attend to, which will cause a constant interruption; you had better
+defer it to some other time."
+
+"I shan't ask you to listen to me again," said he, with a look of
+offended vanity; but he went to his trunk, and brought out a large MS.,
+written on foolscap, which he commenced reading to himself with an air
+of great self-importance, glancing from time to time at me, and smiling
+disdainfully. Oh, how glad I was when the door opened, and the return of
+Moodie broke up this painful _tete-a-tete_.
+
+From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step. The very next day, Mr.
+Malcolm made his appearance before me wrapped in a great-coat belonging
+to my husband, which literally came down to his heels. At this strange
+apparition, I fell a-laughing.
+
+"For God's sake, Mrs. Moodie, lend me a pair of inexpressibles. I
+have met with an accident in crossing the fence, and mine are torn to
+shreds--gone to the devil entirely."
+
+"Well, don't swear. I'll see what can be done for you."
+
+I brought him a new pair of fine, drab-coloured kerseymere trowsers that
+had never been worn. Although he was eloquent in his thanks, I had no
+idea that he meant to keep them for his sole individual use from that
+day thenceforth. But after all, what was the man to do? He had no
+trousers, and no money, and he could not take to the woods. Certainly
+his loss was not our gain. It was the old proverb reversed. The season
+for putting in the potatoes had now arrived. Malcolm volunteered to cut
+the sets, which was easy work that could be done in the house, and over
+which he could lounge and smoke; but Moodie told him that he must take
+his share in the field, that I had already sets enough saved to plant
+half-an-acre, and would have more prepared by the time they were
+required. With many growls and shrugs, he felt obliged to comply; and
+he performed his part pretty well, the execrations bestowed upon the
+mosquitoes and black-flies forming a sort of safety-valve to let off the
+concentrated venom of his temper. When he came in to dinner, he held out
+his hands to me.
+
+"Look at these hands."
+
+"They are blistered with the hoe."
+
+"Look at my face."
+
+"You are terribly disfigured by the black-flies. But Moodie suffers just
+as much, and says nothing."
+
+"Bah!--The only consolation one feels for such annoyances is to
+complain. Oh, the woods!--the cursed woods!--how I wish I were out of
+them." The day was very warm, but in the afternoon I was surprised by a
+visit from an old maiden lady, a friend of mine from C--. She had walked
+up with a Mr. Crowe, from Peterborough, a young, brisk-looking farmer,
+in breeches and top-boots, just out from the old country, who, naturally
+enough, thought he would like to roost among the woods.
+
+He was a little, lively, good-natured manny, with a real Anglo-Saxon
+face,--rosy, high cheek-boned, with full lips, and a turned-up nose;
+and, like most little men, was a great talker, and very full of himself.
+He had belonged to the secondary class of farmers, and was very vulgar,
+both in person and manners. I had just prepared tea for my visitors,
+when Malcolm and Moodie returned from the field. There was no
+affectation about the former. He was manly in his person, and blunt
+even to rudeness, and I saw by the quizzical look which he cast upon the
+spruce little Crowe that he was quietly quizzing him from head to heel.
+A neighbour had sent me a present of maple molasses, and Mr. Crowe was
+so fearful of spilling some of the rich syrup upon his drab shorts that
+he spread a large pocket-handkerchief over his knees, and tucked another
+under his chin. I felt very much inclined to laugh, but restrained the
+inclination as well as I could--and if the little creature would have
+sat still, I could have quelled my rebellious propensity altogether; but
+up he would jump at every word I said to him, and make me a low, jerking
+bow, often with his mouth quite full, and the treacherous molasses
+running over his chin.
+
+Malcolm sat directly opposite to me and my volatile next-door neighbour.
+He saw the intense difficulty I had to keep my gravity, and was
+determined to make me laugh out. So, coming slyly behind my chair, he
+whispered in my ear, with the gravity of a judge, "Mrs. Moodie, that
+must have been the very chap who first jumped Jim Crowe."
+
+This appeal obliged me to run from the table. Moodie was astonished at
+my rudeness; and Malcolm, as he resumed his seat, made the matter
+worse by saying, "I wonder what is the matter with Mrs. Moodie; she is
+certainly very hysterical this afternoon."
+
+The potatoes were planted, and the season of strawberries, green peas,
+and young potatoes come, but still Malcolm remained our constant guest.
+He had grown so indolent, and gave himself so many airs, that Moodie was
+heartily sick of his company, and gave him many gentle hints to change
+his quarters; but our guest was determined to take no hint. For some
+reason best known to himself, perhaps out of sheer contradiction, which
+formed one great element in his character, he seemed obstinately bent
+upon remaining where he was. Moodie was busy under-bushing for a full
+fallow. Malcolm spent much of his time in the garden, or lounging about
+the house. I had baked an eel-pie for dinner, which if prepared well is
+by no means an unsavoury dish. Malcolm had cleaned some green peas, and
+washed the first young potatoes we had drawn that season, with his
+own hands, and he was reckoning upon the feast he should have on the
+potatoes with childish glee. The dinner at length was put upon the
+table. The vegetables were remarkably fine, and the pie looked very
+nice.
+
+Moodie helped Malcolm, as he always did, very largely, and the other
+covered his plate with a portion of peas and potatoes, when, lo and
+behold! my gentleman began making a very wry face at the pie.
+
+"What an infernal dish!" he cried, pushing away his plate with an air
+of great disgust. "These eels taste as if they had been stewed in oil.
+Moodie, you should teach your wife to be a better cook."
+
+The hot blood burnt upon Moodie's cheek. I saw indignation blazing in
+his eye.
+
+"If you don't like what is prepared for you, sir, you may leave
+the table, and my house, if you please. I will put up with your
+ungentlemanly and ungrateful conduct to Mrs. Moodie no longer."
+
+Out stalked the offending party. I thought, to be sure, we had got rid
+of him; and though he deserved what was said to him, I was sorry for
+him. Moodie took his dinner, quietly remarking, "I wonder he could find
+it in his heart to leave those fine peas and potatoes."
+
+He then went back to his work in the bush, and I cleared away the
+dishes, and churned, for I wanted butter for tea.
+
+About four o'clock, Mr. Malcolm entered the room. "Mrs. Moodie," said
+he, in a more cheerful voice than usual, "where's the boss?"
+
+"In the wood, under-bushing." I felt dreadfully afraid that there would
+be blows between them.
+
+"I hope, Mr. Malcolm, that you are not going to him with any intention
+of a fresh quarrel."
+
+"Don't you think I have been punished enough by losing my dinner?"
+said he, with a grin. "I don't think we shall murder one another." He
+shouldered his axe, and went whistling away.
+
+After striving for a long while to stifle my foolish fears, I took the
+baby in my arms, and little Dunbar by the hand and ran up to the bush
+where Moodie was at work.
+
+At first I only saw my husband, but the strokes of an axe at a little
+distance soon guided my eyes to the spot where Malcolm was working away,
+as if for dear life. Moodie smiled, and looked at me significantly.
+
+"How could the fellow stomach what I said to him? Either great necessity
+or great meanness must be the cause of his knocking under. I don't know
+whether most to pity or despise him."
+
+"Put up with it, dearest, for this once. He is not happy, and must be
+greatly distressed."
+
+Malcolm kept aloof, ever and anon casting a furtive glance towards us;
+at last little Dunbar ran to him, and held up his arms to be kissed. The
+strange man snatched him to his bosom, and covered him with caresses.
+It might be love to the child that had quelled his sullen spirit, or
+he might really have cherished an affection for us deeper than his ugly
+temper would allow him to show. At all events, he joined us at tea as if
+nothing had happened, and we might truly say that he had obtained a
+new lease of his long visit. But what could not be effected by words
+or hints of ours was brought about a few days after by the silly
+observation of a child. He asked Katie to give him a kiss, and he would
+give her some raspberries he had gathered in the bush.
+
+"I don't want them. Go away; I don't like you, _you little stumpy man!_"
+
+His rage knew no bounds. He pushed the child from him, and vowed that
+he would leave the house that moment--that she could not have thought of
+such an expression herself; she must have been taught it by us. This was
+an entire misconception on his part; but he would not be convinced that
+he was wrong. Off he went, and Moodie called after him, "Malcolm, as I
+am sending to Peterborough to-morrow, the man shall take in your trunk."
+He was too angry even to turn and bid us good-bye; but we had not
+seen the last of him yet. Two months after, we were taking tea with a
+neighbour, who lived a mile below us on the small lake. Who should walk
+in but Mr. Malcolm? He greeted us with great warmth for him, and when
+we rose to take leave, he rose and walked home by our side. "Surely the
+little stumpy man is not returning to his old quarters?" I am still a
+babe in the affairs of men. Human nature has more strange varieties than
+any one menagerie can contain, and Malcolm was one of the oddest of her
+odd species.
+
+That night he slept in his old bed below the parlour window, and for
+three months afterwards he stuck to us like a beaver. He seemed to have
+grown more kindly, or we had got more used to his eccentricities, and
+let him have his own way; certainly he behaved himself much better.
+He neither scolded the children nor interfered with the maid, nor
+quarrelled with me. He had greatly discontinued his bad habit of
+swearing, and he talked of himself and his future prospects with more
+hope and self-respect. His father had promised to send him a fresh
+supply of money, and he proposed to buy of Moodie the clergy reserve,
+and that they should farm the two places on shares. This offer was
+received with great joy, as an unlooked-for means of paying our debts,
+and extricating ourselves from present and overwhelming difficulties,
+and we looked upon the little stumpy man in the light of a benefactor.
+
+So matters continued until Christmas-eve, when our visitor proposed
+walking into Peterborough, in order to give the children a treat of
+raisins to make a Christmas pudding.
+
+"We will be quite merry to-morrow," he said. "I hope we shall eat many
+Christmas dinners together, and continue good friends."
+
+He started, after breakfast, with the promise of coming back at night;
+but night came, the Christmas passed away, months and years fled away,
+but we never saw the little stumpy man again!
+
+He went away that day with a stranger in a wagon from Peterborough, and
+never afterwards was seen in that part of Canada. We afterwards learned
+that he went to Texas, and it is thought that he was killed at St.
+Antonio; but this is mere conjecture. Whether dead or living, I feel
+convinced that
+
+  "We ne'er shall look upon his like again."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE FIRE.
+
+
+The early part of the winter of 1837, a year never to be forgotten in
+the annals of Canadian history, was very severe. During the month of
+February, the thermometer often ranged from eighteen to twenty-seven
+degrees below zero. Speaking of the coldness of one particular day, a
+genuine Brother Jonathan remarked, with charming simplicity, that it
+was thirty degrees below zero that morning, and it would have been much
+colder if the thermometer had been longer.
+
+The morning of the seventh was so intensely cold that every thing liquid
+froze in the house. The wood that had been drawn for the fire was green,
+and it ignited too slowly to satisfy the shivering impatience of women
+and children; I vented mine in audibly grumbling over the wretched fire,
+at which I in vain endeavoured to thaw frozen bread, and to dress crying
+children.
+
+It so happened that an old friend, the maiden lady before alluded to,
+had been staying with us for a few days. She had left us for a visit to
+my sister, and as some relatives of hers were about to return to Britain
+by the way of New York, and had offered to convey letters to friends at
+home, I had been busy all the day before preparing a packet for England.
+It was my intention to walk to my sister's with this packet, directly
+the important affair of breakfast had been discussed, but the extreme
+cold of the morning had occasioned such delay that it was late before
+the breakfast-things were cleared away.
+
+After dressing, I found the air so keen that I could not venture out
+without some risk to my nose, and my husband kindly volunteered to go
+in my stead. I had hired a young Irish girl the day before. Her friends
+were only just located in our vicinity, and she had never seen a stove
+until she came to our house. After Moodie left, I suffered the fire to
+die away in the Franklin stove in the parlour, and went into the kitchen
+to prepare bread for the oven.
+
+The girl, who was a good-natured creature, had heard me complain
+bitterly of the cold, and the impossibility of getting the green wood
+to burn, and she thought that she would see if she could not make a good
+fire for me and the children, against my work was done. Without saying
+one word about her intention, she slipped out through a door that opened
+from the parlour into the garden, ran round to the wood-yard, filled her
+lap with cedar chips, and, not knowing the nature of the stove, filled
+it entirely with the light wood.
+
+Before I had the least idea of my danger, I was aroused from the
+completion of my task by the crackling and roaring of a large fire,
+and a suffocating smell of burning soot. I looked up at the kitchen
+cooking-stove. All was right there. I knew I had left no fire in the
+parlour stove; but not being able to account for the smoke and smell of
+burning, I opened the door, and to my dismay found the stove red hot,
+from the front plate to the topmost pipe that let out the smoke through
+the roof.
+
+My first impulse was to plunge a blanket, snatched from the servant's
+bed, which stood in the kitchen, into cold water. This I thrust into the
+stove, and upon it I threw water, until all was cool below. I then ran
+up to the loft, and by exhausting all the water in the house, even to
+that contained in the boilers upon the fire, contrived to cool down the
+pipes which passed through the loft. I then sent the girl out of doors
+to look at the roof, which, as a very deep fall of snow had taken place
+the day before, I hoped would be completely covered, and safe from all
+danger of fire.
+
+She quickly returned, stamping and tearing her hair, and making a
+variety of uncouth outcries, from which I gathered that the roof was in
+flames.
+
+This was terrible news, with my husband absent, no man in the house, and
+a mile and a quarter from any other habitation. I ran out to ascertain
+the extent of the misfortune, and found a large fire burning in the roof
+between the two stone pipes. The heat of the fires had melted off all
+the snow, and a spark from the burning pipe had already ignited the
+shingles. A ladder, which for several months had stood against the
+house, had been moved two days before to the barn, which was at the top
+of the hill, near the road; there was no reaching the fire through that
+source. I got out the dining-table, and tried to throw water upon the
+roof by standing on a chair placed upon it, but I only expended the
+little water that remained in the boiler, without reaching the fire. The
+girl still continued weeping and lamenting.
+
+"You must go for help," I said. "Run as fast as you can to my sister's,
+and fetch your master!"
+
+"And lave you, ma'arm, and the childher alone wid the burnin' house?"
+
+"Yes, yes! Don't stay one moment."
+
+"I have no shoes, ma'arm, and the snow is so deep."
+
+"Put on your master's boots; make haste, or we shall be lost before help
+comes."
+
+The girl put on the boots and started, shrieking "Fire!" the whole way.
+This was utterly useless, and only impeded her progress by exhausting
+her strength. After she had vanished from the head of the clearing into
+the wood, and I was left quite alone, with the house burning over my
+head, I paused one moment to reflect what had best be done.
+
+The house was built of cedar logs; in all probability it would be
+consumed before any help could arrive. There was a brisk breeze blowing
+up from the frozen lake, and the thermometer stood at eighteen degrees
+below zero. We were placed between the two extremes of heat and cold,
+and there was as much danger to be apprehended from the one as the
+other. In the bewilderment of the moment, the direful extent of the
+calamity never struck me: we wanted but this to put the finishing stroke
+to our misfortunes, to be thrown naked, houseless, and penniless,
+upon the world. "_What shall I save first?_" was the thought just then
+uppermost in my mind. Bedding and clothing appeared the most essentially
+necessary, and without another moment's pause, I set to work with a
+right good will to drag all that I could from my burning home.
+
+While little Agnes, Dunbar, and baby Donald filled the air with their
+cries, Katie, as if fully conscious of the importance of exertion,
+assisted me in carrying out sheets and blankets, and dragging trunks and
+boxes some way up the hill, to be out of the way of the burning brands
+when the roof should fall in.
+
+How many anxious looks I gave to the head of the clearing as the fire
+increased, and large pieces of burning pine began to fall through
+the boarded ceiling, about the lower rooms where we were at work. The
+children I had kept under a large dresser in the kitchen, but it now
+appeared absolutely necessary to remove them to a place of safety. To
+expose the young, tender things to the direful cold was almost as bad as
+leaving them to the mercy of the fire. At last I hit upon a plan to keep
+them from freezing. I emptied all the clothes out of a large, deep chest
+of drawers, and dragged the empty drawers up the hill; these I lined
+with blankets, and placed a child in each drawer, covering it well over
+with the bedding giving to little Agnes the charge of the baby to hold
+between her knees, and keep well covered until help should arrive. Ah,
+how long it seemed coming!
+
+The roof was now burning like a brush-heap, and, unconsciously, the
+child and I were working under a shelf, upon which were deposited
+several pounds of gunpowder which had been procured for blasting a well,
+as all our water had to be brought up-hill from the lake. This gunpowder
+was in a stone jar secured by a paper stopper; the shelf upon which it
+stood was on fire, but it was utterly forgotten by me at the time; and
+even afterwards, when my husband was working on the burning loft over
+it.
+
+I found that I should not be able to take many more trips for goods. As
+I passed out of the parlour for the last time, Katie looked up at her
+father's flute, which was suspended upon two brackets, and said,
+
+"Oh, dear mamma! do save papa's flute; he will be so sorry to lose it."
+
+God bless the dear child for the thought! the flute was saved; and, as
+I succeeded in dragging out a heavy chest of clothes, and looked up once
+more despairingly to the road, I saw a man running at full speed. It was
+my husband. Help was at hand, and my heart uttered a deep thanksgiving
+as another and another figure came upon the scene.
+
+I had not felt the intense cold, although without cap, or bonnet, or
+shawl; with my hands bare and exposed to the bitter, biting air. The
+intense excitement, the anxiety to save all I could, had so totally
+diverted my thoughts from myself, that I had felt nothing of the danger
+to which I had been exposed; but now that help was near, my knees
+trembled under me, I felt giddy and faint, and dark shadows seemed
+dancing before my eyes.
+
+The moment my husband and brother-in-law entered the house, the latter
+exclaimed,
+
+"Moodie, the house is gone; save what you can of your winter stores and
+furniture."
+
+Moodie thought differently. Prompt and energetic in danger, and
+possessing admirable presence of mind and coolness when others yield to
+agitation and despair, he sprang upon the burning loft and called for
+water. Alas, there was none!
+
+"Snow, snow; hand me up pailfuls of snow!"
+
+Oh! it was bitter work filling those pails with frozen snow; but Mr.
+T---- and I worked at it as fast as we were able.
+
+The violence of the fire was greatly checked by covering the boards
+of the loft with this snow. More help had now arrived. Young B---- and
+S---- had brought the ladder down with them from the barn, and were
+already cutting away the burning roof, and flinging the flaming brands
+into the deep snow.
+
+"Mrs. Moodie, have you any pickled meat?"
+
+"We have just killed one of our cows, and salted it for winter stores."
+
+"Well, then, fling the beef into the snow, and let us have the brine."
+
+This was an admirable plan. Wherever the brine wetted the shingles, the
+fire turned from it, and concentrated into one spot.
+
+But I had not time to watch the brave workers on the roof. I was
+fast yielding to the effects of over-excitement and fatigue, when my
+brother's team dashed down the clearing, bringing my excellent old
+friend, Miss B----, and the servant-girl.
+
+My brother sprang out, carried me back into the house, and wrapped me
+up in one of the large blankets, scattered about. In a few minutes I was
+seated with the dear children in the sleigh, and on the way to a place
+of warmth and safety. Katie alone suffered from the intense cold. The
+dear little creature's feet were severely frozen, but were fortunately
+restored by her uncle discovering the fact before she approached the
+fire, and rubbing them well with snow. In the mean while, the friends we
+had left so actively employed at the house succeeded in getting the fire
+under before it had destroyed the walls. The only accident that occurred
+was to a poor dog, that Moodie had called Snarleyowe. He was struck by a
+burning brand thrown from the house, and crept under the barn and died.
+
+Beyond the damage done to the building, the loss of our potatoes, and
+two sacks of flour, we had escaped in a manner almost miraculous. This
+fact shows how much can be done by persons working in union, without
+bustle and confusion, or running in each other's way. Here were six men,
+who, without the aid of water, succeeded in saving a building, which,
+at first sight, almost all of them had deemed past hope. In after years,
+when entirely burnt out in a disastrous fire that consumed almost all we
+were worth in the world, some four hundred persons were present, with a
+fire-engine to second their endeavours, yet all was lost. Every person
+seemed in the way; and though the fire was discovered immediately after
+it took place, nothing was done beyond saving some of the furniture.
+
+Our party was too large to be billetted upon one family. Mrs. T---, took
+compassion upon Moodie, myself, and the baby, while their uncle received
+the three children to his hospitable home.
+
+It was some weeks before Moodie succeeded in repairing the roof,
+the intense cold preventing any one from working in such an exposed
+situation. The news of our fire travelled far and wide. I was reported
+to have done prodigies, and to have saved the greater part of our
+household goods before help arrived. Reduced to plain prose, these
+prodigies shrink into the simple, and by no means marvellous fact,
+that during the excitement I dragged out chests which, under ordinary
+circumstances, I could not have moved; and that I was unconscious both
+of the cold and the danger to which I was exposed while working under a
+burning roof, which, had it fallen, would have buried both the children
+and myself under its ruins. These circumstances appeared far more
+alarming, as all real danger does, after they were past. The fright and
+overexertion gave my health a shock from which I did not recover for
+several months, and made me so fearful of fire, that from that hour it
+haunts me like a nightmare. Let the night be ever so serene, all stoves
+must be shut up, and the hot-embers covered with ashes, before I
+dare retire to rest; and the sight of a burning edifice, so common a
+spectacle in large towns in this country, makes me really ill. This
+feeling was greatly increased after a second fire, when, for some
+torturing minutes, a lovely boy, since drowned, was supposed to have
+perished in the burning house.
+
+Our present fire led to a new train of circumstances, for it was the
+means of introducing to Moodie a young Irish gentleman, who was staying
+at my brother's house. John E---- was one of the best and gentlest of
+human beings. His father, a captain in the army, had died while his
+family were quite young, and had left his widow with scarcely any means
+beyond the pension she received at her husband's death, to bring up and
+educate a family of five children. A handsome, showy woman, Mrs. E----
+soon married again; and the poor lads ere thrown upon the world. The
+eldest, who had been educated for the Church first came to Canada in
+the hope of getting some professorship in the college, or of opening a
+classical school. He was a handsome, gentlemanly, well-educated young
+man, but constitutionally indolent--a natural defect which seemed common
+to all the males of the family, and which was sufficiently indicated by
+their soft, silky, fair hair and milky complexion. R---- had the good
+sense to perceive that Canada was not the country for him. He spent a
+week under our roof, and we were much pleased with his elegant tastes
+and pursuits; but my husband strongly advised him to try and get
+a situation as a tutor in some family at home. This he afterwards
+obtained. He became tutor and travelling companion to the young Lord
+M----; and has since got an excellent living.
+
+John, who had followed his brother to Canada without the means of
+transporting himself back again, was forced to remain, and was working
+with Mr. S---- for his board. He proposed to Moodie working his farm
+upon shares; and as we were unable to hire a man, Moodie gladly closed
+with his offer; and, during the time he remained with us, we had every
+reason to be pleased with the arrangement. It was always a humiliating
+feeling to our proud minds, that hirelings should witness our dreadful
+struggles with poverty, and the strange shifts we were forced to make in
+order to obtain even food. But John E---- had known and experienced all
+that we had suffered, in his own person, and was willing to share
+our home with all its privations. Warm-hearted, sincere, and truly
+affectionate--a gentleman in word, thought, and deed--we found his
+society and cheerful help a great comfort. Our odd meals became a
+subject of merriment, and the peppermint and sage tea drank with a
+better flavour when we had one who sympathized in all our trials, and
+shared all our toils, to partake of it with us.
+
+The whole family soon became attached to our young friend, and after the
+work of the day was over, greatly we enjoyed an hour's fishing on the
+lake. John E---- said that we had no right to murmur, as long as we
+had health, a happy home, and plenty of fresh fish, milk, and potatoes.
+Early in May, we received an old Irishwoman into our service, who for
+four years proved a most faithful and industrious creature. And what
+with John E---- to assist my husband on the farm, and old Jenny to help
+me to nurse the children, and manage the house, our affairs, if they
+were no better in a pecuniary point of view, at least presented a
+more pleasing aspect at home. We were always cheerful, and sometimes
+contented and even happy.
+
+How great was the contrast between the character of our new inmate and
+that of Mr. Malcolm! The sufferings of the past year had been greatly
+increased by the intolerable nuisance of his company, while many
+additional debts had been contracted in order to obtain luxuries for
+him which we never dreamed of purchasing for ourselves. Instead of
+increasing my domestic toils, John did all in his power to lessen them;
+and it always grieved him to see me iron a shirt, or wash the least
+article of clothing for him. "You have too much to do already; I cannot
+bear to give you the least additional work," he would say. And he
+generally expressed the greatest satisfaction at my method of managing
+the house, and preparing our simple fare. The little ones he treated
+with the most affectionate kindness, and gathered the whole flock about
+his knees the moment he came in to his meals.
+
+On a wet day, when no work could be done abroad, Moodie took up his
+flute, or read aloud to us, while John and I sat down to work. The
+young emigrant, early cast upon the world and his own resources, was
+an excellent hand at the needle. He would make or mend a shirt with the
+greatest precision and neatness, and cut out and manufacture his canvas
+trowsers and loose summer-coats with as much adroitness as the most
+experienced tailor; darn his socks, and mend his boots and shoes,
+and often volunteered to assist me in knitting the coarse yarn of the
+country into socks for the children, while he made them moccasins from
+the dressed deer-skins that we obtained from the Indians. Scrupulously
+neat and clean in his person, the only thing which seemed to ruffle his
+calm temper was the dirty work of logging; he hated to come in from the
+field with his person and clothes begrimed with charcoal and smoke. Old
+Jenny used to laugh at him for not being able to eat his meals without
+first washing his hands and face.
+
+"Och! my dear heart, yer too particular intirely; we've no time in the
+woods to be clane." She would say to him, in answer to his request for
+soap and a towel, "An' is it soap yer a wantin'? I tell yer that that
+same is not to the fore; bating the throuble of making, it's little soap
+that the misthress can get to wash the clothes for us and the childher,
+widout yer wastin' it in makin' yer purty skin as white as a leddy's.
+Do, darlint, go down, to the lake and wash there; that basin is big
+enough, any how." And John would laugh, and go down to the lake to wash,
+in order to appease the wrath of the old woman. John had a great dislike
+to cats, and even regarded with an evil eye our old pet cat, Peppermint,
+who had taken a great fancy to share his bed and board.
+
+"If I tolerate our own cat," he would say, "I will not put up with such
+a nuisance as your friend Emilia sends us in the shape of her ugly Tom.
+Why, where in the world do you think I found that beast sleeping last
+night?"
+
+I expressed my ignorance.
+
+"In our potato-pot. Now, you will agree with me that potatoes dressed
+with cat's hair is not a very nice dish. The next time I catch Master
+Tom in the potato-pot, I will kill him."
+
+"John, you are not in earnest. Mrs. ---- would never forgive any injury
+done to Tom, who is a great favourite."
+
+"Let her keep him at home, then. Think of the brute coming a mile
+through the woods to steal from us all he can find, and then sleeping
+off the effects of his depredations in the potato-pot."
+
+I could not help laughing, but I begged John by no means to annoy Emilia
+by hurting her cat.
+
+The next day, while sitting in the parlour at work, I heard a dreadful
+squall, and rushed to the rescue. John was standing, with a flushed
+cheek, grasping a large stick in his hand, and Tom was lying dead at his
+feet.
+
+"Oh, the poor cat!".
+
+"Yes, I have killed him; but I am sorry for it now. What will Mrs. ----
+say?"
+
+"She must not know it. I have told you the story of the pig that Jacob
+killed. You had better bury it with the pig."
+
+John was really sorry for having yielded, in a fit of passion, to do so
+cruel a thing; yet a few days after he got into a fresh scrape with Mrs.
+----'s animals.
+
+The hens were laying, up at the barn. John was very fond of fresh eggs,
+but some strange dog came daily and sucked the eggs. John had vowed
+to kill the first dog he found in the act Mr. ---- had a very fine
+bull-dog, which he valued very highly; but with Emilia, Chowder was an
+especial favourite. Bitterly had she bemoaned the fate of Tom, and many
+were the inquiries she made of us as to his sudden disappearance.
+
+One afternoon John ran into the room. "My dear Mrs. Moodie, what is Mrs.
+----'s dog like?"
+
+"A large bull-dog, brindled black and white."
+
+"There, by Jove, I've shot him!"
+
+"John, John! you mean me to quarrel in earnest with my friend. How could
+you do it?"
+
+"Why, how the deuce should I know her dog from another? I caught the big
+thief in the very act of devouring the eggs from under your sitting hen,
+and I shot him dead without another thought. But I will bury him, and
+she will never find it out a bit more than she did who killed the cat."
+
+Some time after this, Emilia returned from a visit at P----. The first
+thing she told me was the loss of the dog. She was so vexed at it,
+she had had him advertised, offering a reward for his recovery. I, of
+course, was called upon to sympathize with her, which I did with a very
+bad grace. "I did not like the beast," I said; "he was cross and fierce,
+and I was afraid to go up to her house while he was there."
+
+"Yes; but to lose him so. It is so provoking; and him such a valuable
+animal. I could not tell how deeply she felt the loss. She would give
+four dollars to find out who had stolen him."
+
+How near she came to making the grand discovery the sequel will show.
+
+Instead of burying him with the murdered pig and cat, John had scratched
+a shallow grave in the garden, and concealed the dead brute.
+
+After tea, Emilia requested to look at the garden; and I, perfectly
+unconscious that it contained the remains of the murdered Chowder,
+led the way. Mrs. ----, whilst gathering a handful of fine green peas,
+suddenly stooped, and looking earnestly at the ground, called to me.
+
+"Come here, Susanna, and tell me what has been buried here. It looks
+like the tail of a dog."
+
+She might have added, "of my dog." Murder, it seems, will out. By some
+strange chance, the grave that covered the mortal remains of Chowder had
+been disturbed, and the black tail of the dog was sticking out.
+
+"What can it be?" said I, with an air of perfect innocence. "Shall I
+call Jenny, and dig it up?"
+
+"Oh, no, my dear; it has a shocking smell, but it does look very much
+like Chowder's tail."
+
+"Impossible! How could it come among my peas?"
+
+"True. Besides, I saw Chowder, with my own eyes yesterday, following a
+team; and George C---- hopes to recover him for me."
+
+"Indeed! I am glad to hear it. How these mosquitoes sting. Shall we go
+back to the house?"
+
+While we returned to the house, John, who had overheard the whole
+conversation, hastily disinterred the body of Chowder, and placed him
+in the same mysterious grave with Tom and the pig. Moodie and his friend
+finished logging-up the eight acres which the former had cleared the
+previous winter; besides putting in a crop of peas and potatoes, and an
+acre of Indian corn, reserving the fallow for fall wheat; while we had
+the promise of a splendid crop of hay off the sixteen acres that had
+been cleared in 1834. We were all in high spirits, and every thing
+promised fair, until a very trifling circumstance again occasioned us
+much anxiety and trouble, and was the cause of our losing most of our
+crop.
+
+Moodie was asked to attend a bee, which was called to construct a
+corduroy bridge over a very bad piece of road. He and J. E---- were
+obliged to go that morning with wheat to the mill, but Moodie lent his
+yoke of oxen for the work.
+
+The driver selected for them at the bee was the brutal M----y, a savage
+Irishman, noted for his ill-treatment of cattle, especially if the
+animals did not belong to him. He gave one of the oxen such a severe
+blow over the loins with a handspike that the creature came home
+perfectly disabled, just as we wanted his services in the hay-field and
+harvest.
+
+Moodie had no money to purchase, or even to hire, a mate for the other
+ox; but he and John hoped that by careful attendance upon the injured
+animal he might be restored to health in a few days. They conveyed him
+to a deserted clearing, a short distance from the farm, where he would
+be safe from injury from the rest of the cattle; and early every morning
+we went in the canoe to carry poor Duke a warm mash, and to watch the
+progress of his recovery.
+
+Ah, ye who revel in this world's wealth, how little can you realize
+the importance which we, in our poverty, attached to the life of this
+valuable animal! Yes, it even became the subject of prayer, for the
+bread for ourselves and our little ones depended greatly upon his
+recovery. We were doomed to disappointment. After nursing him with the
+greatest attention and care for some weeks, the animal grew daily worse,
+and suffered such intense agony, as he lay groaning upon the ground,
+unable to rise, that John shot him to put him out of pain.
+
+Here, then, were we left without oxen to draw in our hay, or secure our
+other crops. A neighbour, who had an odd ox, kindly lent us the use of
+him, when he was not employed on his own farm; and John and Moodie gave
+their own work for the occasional loan of a yoke of oxen for-a-day. But
+with all these drawbacks, and in spite of the assistance of old Jenny
+and myself in the field, a great deal of the produce was damaged before
+it could be secured. The whole summer we had to labour under this
+disadvantage. Our neighbours were all too busy to give us any help, and
+their own teams were employed in saving their crops. Fortunately, the
+few acres of wheat we had to reap were close to the barn, and we carried
+the sheaves thither by hand; old Jenny proving an invaluable help, both
+in the harvest and hay field.
+
+Still, with all these misfortunes, Providence watched over us in a
+signal manner. We were never left entirely without food. Like the
+widow's cruise of oil, our means, though small, were never suffered to
+cease entirely. We had been for some days without meat, when Moodie came
+running in for his gun. A great she-bear was in the wheat-field at the
+edge of the wood, very busily employed in helping to harvest the crop.
+There was but one bullet, and a charge or two of buck-shot, in the
+house; but Moodie started to the wood with the single bullet in his gun,
+followed by a little terrier dog that belonged to John E----. Old Jenny
+was busy at the wash-tub, but the moment she saw her master running up
+the clearing, and knew the cause, she left her work, and snatching up
+the carving-knife, ran after him, that in case the bear should have the
+best of the fight, she would be there to help "the masther." Finding her
+shoes incommode her, she flung them off, in order to run faster. A few
+minutes after, came the report of the gun, and I heard Moodie halloo to
+E----, who was cutting stakes for a fence in the wood. I hardly thought
+it possible that he could have killed the bear, but I ran to the door to
+listen. The children were all excitement, which the sight of the black
+monster, borne down the clearing upon two poles, increased to the
+wildest demonstrations of joy. Moodie and John were carrying the prize,
+and old Jenny, brandishing her carving-knife, followed in the rear.
+
+The rest of the evening was spent in skinning and cutting up and salting
+the ugly creature, whose flesh filled a barrel with excellent meat, in
+flavour resembling beef, while the short grain and juicy nature of the
+flesh gave to it the tenderness of mutton. This was quite a Godsend, and
+lasted us until we were able to kill two large, fat hogs, in the fall.
+
+A few nights after, Moodie and I encountered the mate of Mrs. Bruin,
+while returning from a visit to Emilia, in the very depth of the wood.
+
+"We had been invited to meet our friend's father and mother, who had
+come up on a short visit to the woods; and the evening passed away so
+pleasantly that it was near midnight before the little party of friends
+separated. The moon was down. The wood, through which we had to return,
+was very dark; the ground being low and swampy, and the trees thick and
+tall. There was, in particular, one very ugly spot, where a small creek
+crossed the road. This creek could only be passed by foot-passengers
+scrambling over a fallen tree, which, in a dark night, was not very easy
+to find. I begged a torch of Mr. M----; but no torch could be found.
+Emilia laughed at my fears; still, knowing what a coward I was in the
+bush of a night, she found up about an inch of candle, which was all
+that remained from the evening's entertainment. This she put into an old
+lantern.
+
+"It will not last you long; but it will carry you over the creek."
+
+This was something gained, and off we set. It was so dark in the bush,
+that our dim candle looked like a solitary red spark in the intense
+surrounding darkness, and scarcely served to show us the path. We went
+chatting along, talking over the news of the evening, Hector running on
+before us, when I saw a pair of eyes glare upon us from the edge of the
+swamp, with the green, bright light emitted by the eyes of a cat.
+
+"Did you see those terrible eyes, Moodie?" and I clung, trembling, to
+his arm.
+
+"What eyes?" said he, feigning ignorance. "It's too dark to see any
+thing. The light is nearly gone, and, if you don't quicken your pace,
+and cross the tree before it goes out, you will, perhaps, get your feet
+wet by falling into the creek."
+
+"Good heavens! I saw them again; and do just look at the dog."
+
+Hector stopped suddenly, and, stretching himself along the ground,
+his nose resting between his fore-paws, began to whine and tremble.
+Presently he ran back to us, and crept under our feet. The cracking of
+branches, and the heavy tread of some large animal, sounded close beside
+us.
+
+Moodie turned the open lantern in the direction from whence the sounds
+came, and shouted as loud as he could, at the same time endeavouring to
+urge forward the fear-stricken dog, whose cowardice was only equalled by
+my own.
+
+Just at that critical moment the wick of the candle flickered a moment
+in the socket, and expired. We were left, in perfect darkness, alone
+with the bear--for such we supposed the animal to be.
+
+My heart beat audibly; a cold perspiration was streaming down my face,
+but I neither shrieked nor attempted to run. I don't know how Moodie
+got me over the creek. One of my feet slipped into the water, but,
+expecting, as I did every moment, to be devoured by master Bruin, that
+was a thing of no consequence. My husband was laughing at my fears,
+and every now and then he turned towards our companion, who continued
+following us at no great distance, and gave him an encouraging shout.
+Glad enough was I when I saw the gleam of the light from our little
+cabin window shine out among the trees; and, the moment I got within the
+clearing, I ran, without stopping until I was safely within the house.
+John was sitting up for us, nursing Donald. He listened with great
+interest to our adventure with the bear, and thought that Bruin was very
+good to let us escape without one affectionate hug.
+
+"Perhaps it would have been otherwise had he known, Moodie, that you
+had not only killed his good lady, but were dining sumptuously off her
+carcass every day."
+
+The bear was determined to have something in return for the loss of
+his wife. Several nights after this, our slumbers were disturbed, about
+midnight, by an awful yell, and old Jenny shook violently at our chamber
+door.
+
+"Masther, masther, dear!--Get up wid you this moment, or the bear will
+desthroy the cattle intirely."
+
+Half asleep, Moodie sprang from his bed, seized his gun, and ran out. I
+threw my large cloak round me, struck a light, and followed him to
+the door. The moment the latter was unclosed, some calves that we were
+rearing rushed into the kitchen, closely followed by the larger beasts,
+who came bellowing headlong down the hill, pursued by the bear.
+
+It was a laughable scene, as shown by that paltry tallow-candle. Moodie,
+in his night-shirt, taking aim at something in the darkness, surrounded
+by the terrified animals; old Jenny, with a large knife in her hand,
+holding on to the white skirts of her master's garment, making outcry
+loud enough to frighten away all the wild beasts in the bush--herself
+almost in a state of nudity.
+
+"Och, maisther, dear! don't timpt the ill-conditioned crathur wid
+charging too near; think of the wife and the childher. Let me come at
+the rampaging baste, an' I'll stick the knife into the heart of him."
+
+Moodie fired. The bear retreated up the clearing, with a low growl.
+Moodie and Jenny pursued him some way, but it was too dark to discern
+any object at a distance. I, for my part, stood at the open door,
+laughing until the tears ran down my cheeks, at the glaring eyes of the
+oxen, their ears erect, and their tails carried gracefully on a
+level with their backs, as they stared at me and the light, in blank
+astonishment. The noise of the gun had just roused John E---- from his
+slumbers. He was no less amused than myself, until he saw that a fine
+yearling heifer was bleeding, and found, upon examination, that the poor
+animal, having been in the claws of the bear, was dangerously, if not
+mortally hurt.
+
+"I hope," he cried, "that the brute has not touched my foal!" I pointed
+to the black face of the filly peeping over the back of an elderly cow.
+
+"You see, John, that Bruin preferred veal; there's your 'horsey,' as
+Dunbar calls her, safe, and laughing at you."
+
+Moodie and Jenny now returned from the pursuit of the bear. E----
+fastened all the cattle into the back yard, close to the house. By
+daylight he and Moodie had started in chase of Bruin, whom they tracked
+by his blood some way into the bush; but here he entirely escaped their
+search.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE OUTBREAK.
+
+
+THE long-protracted harvest was at length brought to a close. Moodie had
+procured another ox from Dummer, by giving a note at six months' date
+for the payment; and he and John E---- were in the middle of sowing
+their fall crop of wheat, when the latter received a letter from the old
+country which conveyed to him intelligence of the death of his mother,
+and of a legacy of two hundred pounds. It was necessary for him to
+return to claim the property, and though we felt his loss severely, we
+could not, without great selfishness, urge him to stay. John had
+formed an attachment to a young lady in the country, who, like himself,
+possessed no property. Their engagement, which had existed several
+years, had been dropped, from its utter hopelessness, by mutual consent.
+Still the young people continued to love each other, and to look forward
+to better days, when their prospects might improve so far that E----
+would be able to purchase a bush farm, and raise a house, however lowly,
+to shelter his Mary. He, like our friend Malcolm, had taken a fancy to
+buy a part of our block of land, which he could cultivate in partnership
+with Moodie, without being obliged to hire, when the same barn, cattle,
+and implements would serve for both. Anxious to free himself from the
+thraldom of debts which pressed him sore, Moodie offered to part with
+two hundred acres at less than they cost us, and the bargain was to be
+considered as concluded directly the money was forthcoming.
+
+It was a sorrowful day when our young friend left us; he had been a
+constant inmate in the house for nice months, and not one unpleasant
+word had ever passed between us. He had rendered our sojourn in the
+woods more tolerable by his society, and sweetened our bitter lot by his
+friendship and sympathy. We both regarded him as a brother, and parted
+with him with sincere regret. As to old Jenny, she lifted up her voice
+and wept, consigning him to the care and protection of all the saints
+in the Irish calendar. For several days after John left us, a deep gloom
+pervaded the house. Our daily toil was performed with less cheerfulness
+and alacrity; we missed him at the evening board, and at the evening
+fire; and the children asked each day, with increasing earnestness, when
+dear E---- would return.
+
+Moodie continued sowing his fall wheat. The task was nearly completed,
+and the chill October days were fast verging upon winter, when towards
+the evening of one of them he contrived--I know not how--to crawl down
+from the field at the head of the hill, faint and pale, and in great
+pain. He had broken the small bone of his leg. In dragging, among the
+stumps, the heavy machine (which is made in the form of the letter V,
+and is supplied with large iron teeth) had hitched upon a stump, and
+being swung off again by the motion of the oxen, had come with great
+force against his leg. At first he was struck down, and for some time
+was unable to rise; but at length he contrived to unyoke the team, and
+crawled partly on his hands and knees down the clearing.
+
+What a sad, melancholy evening that was! Fortune seemed never tired
+of playing us some ugly trick. The hope which had so long sustained
+me seemed about to desert me altogether; when I saw him on whom we all
+depended for subsistence, and whose kindly voice ever cheered us under
+the pressure of calamity, smitten down hopeless, all my courage and
+faith in the goodness of the Divine Father seemed to forsake me, and I
+wept long and bitterly.
+
+The next morning I went in search of a messenger to send to Peterborough
+for the doctor; but though I found and sent the messenger, the doctor
+never came. Perhaps he did not like to incur the expense of a fatiguing
+journey with small chance of obtaining a sufficient remuneration.
+
+Our dear sufferer contrived, with assistance, to bandage his leg; and
+after the first week of rest had expired, he amused himself with making
+a pair of crutches, and in manufacturing Indian paddles for the canoe,
+axe-handles, and yokes for the oxen. It was wonderful with what serenity
+he bore this unexpected affliction. Buried in the obscurity of those
+woods, we knew nothing, heard nothing of the political state of the
+country, and were little aware of the revolution which was about to work
+a great change for us and for Canada.
+
+The weather continued remarkably mild. The first great snow, which for
+years had ordinarily fallen between the 10th and 15th of November, still
+kept off. November passed on, and as all our firewood had to be chopped
+by old Jenny during the lameness of my husband, I was truly grateful
+to God for the continued mildness of the weather. On the 4th of
+December--that great day of the outbreak--Moodie was determined to take
+advantage of the open state of the lake to carry a large grist up to
+Y----'s mill. I urged upon him the danger of a man attempting to manage
+a canoe in rapid water, who was unable to stand without crutches; but
+Moodie saw that the children would need bread, and he was anxious to
+make the experiment.
+
+Finding that I could not induce him to give up the journey, I determined
+to go with him. Old Wittals, who happened to come down that morning,
+assisted in placing the bags of wheat in the little vessel, and helped
+to place Moodie at the stern. With a sad, foreboding spirit I assisted
+to push off from the shore. The air was raw and cold, but our sail was
+not without its pleasure. The lake was very full from the heavy rains,
+and the canoe bounded over the waters with a free, springy motion. A
+slight frost had hung every little bush and spray along the shores
+with sparkling crystals. The red pigeon-berries, shining through their
+coating of ice, looked like cornelian beads set in silver, and strung
+from bush to bush. We found the rapids at the entrance of Bessikakoon
+Lake very hard to stem, and were so often carried back by the force of
+the water that, cold as the air was, the great exertion which Moodie had
+to make use of to obtain the desired object, brought the perspiration
+out in big drops upon his forehead. His long confinement to the house
+and low diet had rendered him very weak.
+
+The old miller received us in the most hearty and hospitable manner;
+and complimented me upon my courage in venturing upon the water in such
+cold, rough weather. Norah was married, but the kind Betty provided us
+an excellent dinner, while we waited for the grist to be ground.
+
+It was near four o'clock when we started on our return. If there had
+been danger in going up the stream, there was more in coming down. The
+wind had changed, the air was frosty, keen, and biting and Moodie's
+paddle came up from every dip into the water, loaded with ice. For my
+part, I had only to sit still at the bottom of the canoe, as we floated
+rapidly down with wind and tide. At the landing we were met by old
+Jenny, who had a long story to tell us, of which we could make neither
+head nor tail--how some gentleman had called during our absence, and
+left a large paper, all about the Queen and the Yankees; that there was
+war between Canada and the States; that Toronto had been burnt, and
+the governor killed, and I know no what ether strange and monstrous
+statements. After much fatigue, Moodie climbed the hill, and we were
+once more safe by our own, fireside. Here we found the elucidation of
+Jenny's marvellous tales: a copy of the Queen's proclamation, calling
+upon all loyal gentlemen to join in putting down the unnatural
+rebellion.
+
+A letter from my sister explained the nature of the outbreak, and the
+astonishment with which the news had been received by all the settlers
+in the bush. My brother and my sister's husband had already gone off to
+join some of the numerous bands of gentlemen who were collecting from
+all quarters to march to the aid of Toronto, which it was said was
+besieged by the rebel force. She advised me not to suffer Moodie to
+leave home in his present weak state; but the spirit of my husband was
+aroused, he instantly obeyed what he considered the imperative call of
+duty, and told me to prepare him a few necessaries, that he might be
+ready to start early in the morning. Little sleep visited our eyes that
+night. We talked over tie strange news for hours; our coming separation,
+and the probability that if things were as bad as they appeared to
+be, we might never meet again. Our affairs were in such a desperate
+condition that Moodie anticipated that any change must be for the
+better; it was impossible for them to be worse. But the poor, anxious
+wife thought only of a parting which to her put a finishing stroke to
+all her misfortunes.
+
+Before the cold, snowy morning broke, we were all stirring. The
+children, who had learned that their father was preparing to leave
+them, were crying and clinging round his knees. His heart was too deeply
+affected to eat; the meal passed over in silence, and he rose to go. I
+put on my hat and shawl to accompany him through the wood as far as
+my sister Mrs. T----'s. The day was like our destiny, cold, dark, and
+lowering. I gave the dear invalid his crutches, and we commenced our
+sorrowful walk. Then old Jenny's lamentations burst forth, as, flinging
+her arms round my husband's neck, she kissed and blessed him after the
+fashion of her country.
+
+"Och hone! oeh hone!" she cried, wringing her hands, "masther dear, why
+will jou lave the wife and the childher? The poor crathur is breakin'
+her heart intirely at partin' wid you. Shore an' the war is nothin' to
+you, that you must be goin' into danger; an' you wid a broken leg. Och
+hone! Och hone! come back to your home--you will be kilt, and thin what
+will become of the wife and the wee bairns?"
+
+Her cries and lamentations followed us into the wood. At my sister's,
+Moodie and I parted; and with a heavy heart I retraced my steps through
+the wood. For once, I forgot all my fears. I never felt the cold. Sad
+tears were flowing over my cheeks; when I entered the house, hope seemed
+to have deserted me, and for upwards of an hour I lay upon the bed and
+wept. Poor Jenny did her best to comfort me, but all joy had vanished
+with him who was my light of life. Left in the most absolute uncertainty
+as to the real state of public affairs, I could only conjecture what
+might be the result of this sudden outbreak. Several poor settlers
+called at the house during the day, on their way down to Peterborough;
+but they brought with them the most exaggerated accounts. There had
+been a battle, they said, with the rebels, and the loyalists had been
+defeated; Toronto was besieged by sixty thousand men, and all the men in
+the backwoods were ordered to march instantly to the relief of the city.
+
+In the evening, I received a note from Emilia, who was at Peterborough,
+in which she informed me that my husband had borrowed a horse of Mr.
+S----, and had joined a large party of two hundred volunteers, who had
+left that morning for Toronto; that there had been a battle with the
+insurgents; that Colonel Moodie had been killed, and the rebels had
+retreated; and that she hoped my husband would return in a few days. The
+honest backwoodsmen, perfectly ignorant of the abuses that had led
+to the present position of things, regarded the rebels as a set of
+monsters, for whom no punishment was too severe, and obeyed the call
+to arms with enthusiasm. The leader of the insurgents must have been
+astonished at the rapidity with which a large force was collected, as if
+by magic, to repel his designs. A great number of these volunteers were
+half-pay officers, many of whom had fought in the continental wars with
+the armies of Napoleon, and would have been found a host in themselves.
+
+In a week, Moodie returned. So many volunteers had poured into Toronto
+that the number of friends was likely to prove as disastrous as that of
+enemies, on account of the want of supplies to maintain them all. The
+companies from the back townships had been remanded, and I received
+with delight my own again. But this reunion did not last long. Several
+regiments of militia were formed to defend the colony, and to my husband
+was given the rank of captain in one of those then stationed in Toronto.
+
+On the 20th of January, 1838, he bade us a long adieu. I was left with
+old Jenny and the children to take care of the farm. It was a sad, dull
+time. I could bear up against all trials with him to comfort and cheer
+me, but his long-continued absence cast a gloom upon my spirit not
+easily to be shaken off. Still his very appointment to this situation
+was a signal act of mercy. From his full pay, he was enabled to
+liquidate many pressing debts, and to send home from time to time
+sums of money to procure necessaries for me and the little ones. These
+remittances were greatly wanted; but I demurred before laying them out
+for comforts which we had been so long used to dispense with. It seemed
+almost criminal to purchase any article of luxury, such as tea and
+sugar, while a debt remained unpaid.
+
+The Y----'s were very pressing for the thirty pounds that we owed them
+for the clearing; but they had such a firm reliance upon the honour of
+my husband, that, poor and pressed for money as they were, they never
+sued us. I thought it would be a pleasing surprise to Moodie, if,
+with the sums of money which I occasionally received from him, I could
+diminish this debt, which had always given him the greatest uneasiness;
+and, my resolution once formed, I would not allow any temptation to
+shake it. The money was always transmitted to Dummer. I only reserved
+the sum of two dollars a month, to pay a little lad to chop wood for
+us. After a time, I began to think the Y----'s were gifted with
+second-sight; for I never received a money-letter, but the very next day
+I was sure to see some of the family.
+
+Just at this period I received a letter from a gentleman, requesting
+me to write for a magazine (the Literary Garland), just started
+in Montreal, with promise to remunerate me for my labours. Such an
+application was like a gleam of light springing up in the darkness; it
+seemed to promise the dawning of a brighter day. I had never been able
+to turn my thoughts towards literature during my sojourn in the bush.
+When the body is fatigued with labour, unwonted and beyond its strength,
+the mind is in no condition for mental occupation.
+
+The year before, I had been requested by an American author, of great
+merit, to contribute to the North American Review, published for several
+years in Philadelphia; and he promised to remunerate me in proportion to
+the success of the work. I had contrived to write several articles after
+the children were asleep, though the expense even of the stationery and
+the postage of the manuscripts was severely felt by one so destitute of
+means; but the hope of being of the least service to those dear to me
+cheered me to the task. I never realized anything from that source; but
+I believe it was not the fault of the editor. Several other American
+editors had written to me to furnish them with articles; but I was
+unable to pay the postage of heavy packets to the States, and they could
+not reach their destination without being paid to the frontier. Thus,
+all chance of making any thing in that way had been abandoned. I wrote
+to Mr. L----, and frankly informed him how I was situated. In the most
+liberal manner, he offered to pay the postage on all manuscripts to his
+office, and left me to name my own terms of remuneration. This opened
+up a new era in my existence; and for many years I have found in this
+generous man, to whom I am still personally unknown, a steady friend. I
+actually shed tears of joy over the first twenty-dollar bill I received
+from Montreal. It was my own; I had earned it with my own hand; and it
+seemed to my delighted fancy to form the nucleus out of which a future
+independence for my family might arise. I no longer retired to bed when
+the labours of the day were over. I sat up, and wrote by the light of
+a strange sort of candles, that Jenny called "sluts," and which the
+old woman manufactured out of pieces of old rags, twisted together and
+dipped in pork lard, and stuck in a bottle. They did not give a bad
+light, but it took a great many of them to last me for a few hours.
+
+The faithful old creature regarded my writings with a jealous eye. "An',
+shure, it's killin' yerself that you are intirely. You were thin enough
+before you took to the pen; scribblin' an' scrabblin' when you should be
+in bed an' asleep. What good will it be to the childhren, dear heart! if
+you die afore your time, by wastin' your strength afther that fashion?"
+
+Jenny never could conceive the use of books. "Shure, we can live and
+die widout them. It's only a waste of time botherin' your brains wid the
+like of them; but, thank goodness! the lard will soon be all done, an'
+thin we shall hear you spakin' again, instead of sittin' there doubled
+up all night, desthroying your eyes wid porin' over the dirthy writin'."
+
+As the sugar-making season drew near, Jenny conceived the bold thought
+of making a good lump of sugar, that the "childher" might have something
+to "ate" with their bread during the summer. We had no sugar-kettle,
+but a neighbour promised to lend us his, and to give us twenty-eight
+troughs, on condition that we gave him half the sugar we made. These
+terms were rather hard, but Jenny was so anxious to fulfil the darling
+object that we consented. Little Sol and the old woman made some fifty
+troughs more, the trees were duly tapped, a shanty in the bush was
+erected of small logs and brush and covered in at the top with straw;
+and the old woman and Solomon, the hired boy, commenced operations.
+
+The very first day, a terrible accident happened to us; a large log
+fell upon the sugar-kettle--the borrowed sugar-kettle--and cracked it,
+spilling all the sap, and rendering the vessel, which had cost four
+dollars, useless. We were all in dismay. Just at that time Old Wittals
+happened to pass, on his way to Peterborough. He very good-naturedly
+offered to get the kettle repaired for us; which, he said, could be
+easily done by a rivet and an iron hoop. But where was the money to come
+from! I thought awhile. Katie had a magnificent coral and bells, the
+gift of her godfather; I asked the dear child if she would give it to
+buy another kettle for Mr. T----. She said, "I would give ten times as
+much to help mamma."
+
+I wrote a little note to Emilia, who was still at her father's; and Mr.
+W----, the storekeeper, sent us a fine sugar-kettle back by Wittals, and
+also the other mended, in exchange for the useless piece of finery. We
+had now two kettles at work, to the joy of Jenny, who declared that it
+was a lucky fairy who had broken the old kettle.
+
+While Jenny was engaged in boiling and gathering the sap in the bush, I
+sugared off the syrup in the house; an operation watched by the children
+with intense interest. After standing all day over the hot stove-fire,
+it was quite a refreshment to breathe the pure air at night. Every
+evening I ran up to see Jenny in the bush, singing and boiling down the
+sap in the front of her little shanty. The old woman was in her element,
+and afraid of nothing under the stars; she slept beside her kettles at
+night, and snapped her fingers at the idea of the least danger. She was
+sometimes rather despotic in her treatment of her attendant, Sol. One
+morning, in particular, she bestowed upon the lad a severe cuffing. I
+ran up the clearing to the rescue, when my ears were assailed by the
+"boo-hooing" of the boy.
+
+"What has happened? Why do you beat the child, Jenny?"
+
+"It's jist, thin, I that will bate him--the unlucky omad-hawn! Has
+he not spilt and spiled two buckets of syrup, that I have been the
+live-long night bilin'. Sorra wid him; I'd like to strip the skin off
+him, I would! Musha! but'tis enough to vex a saint."
+
+"Ah, Jenny!" blubbered the poor boy, "but you have no mercy. You forget
+that I have but one eye, and that I could not see the root which caught
+my foot and threw me down."
+
+"Faix! an' 'tis a pity that you have the one eye, when you don't know
+how to make a betther use of it," muttered the angry dame, as she picked
+up the pails, and, pushing him on before her, beat a retreat into the
+bush.
+
+I was heartily sick of the sugar-making, long before the season was
+over; however, we were well paid for our trouble. Besides one hundred
+and twelve pounds of fine soft sugar, as good as Muscovado, we had
+six gallons of molasses, and a keg containing six gallons of excellent
+vinegar.
+
+Fifty pounds went to Mr. T----, for the use of his kettle: and the rest
+(with the exception of a cake for Emilia, which I had drained in a wet
+flannel bag until it was almost as white as loaf sugar) we kept for our
+own use. There was no lack, this year, of nice preserves and pickled
+cucumbers, dainties found in every native Canadian establishment.
+
+Besides gaining a little money with my pen, I practised a method of
+painting birds and butterflies upon the white, velvety surface of the
+large fungi that grow plentifully upon the bark of the sugar-maple.
+These had an attractive appearance; and my brother, who was a captain
+in one of the provisional regiments, sold a great many of them among
+the officers, without saying by whom they were painted. One rich lady in
+Peterborough, long since dead, ordered two dozen to send as curiosities
+to England. These, at one shilling each, enabled me to buy shoes for the
+children, who, during our bad times, had been forced to dispense with
+these necessary coverings. How often, during the winter season, have
+I wept over their little chapped feet, literally washing them with my
+tears! But these days were to end; Providence was doing great things for
+us; and Hope raised at last her drooping head to regard with a brighter
+glance the far-off future.
+
+Slowly the winter rolled away; but he to whom every thought turned was
+still distant from his humble home. The receipt of an occasional letter
+from him was my only solace during his long absence, and we were still
+too poor to indulge often in this luxury. My poor Katie was as anxious
+as her mother to hear from her father; and when I did get the long
+looked-for prize, she would kneel down before me, her little elbows
+resting on my knees, her head thrown back, and the tears trickling down
+her innocent cheeks, eagerly drinking in every word.
+
+The spring brought us plenty of work; we had potatoes and corn to plant,
+and the garden to cultivate. By lending my oxen for two days' work, I
+got Wittals, who had no oxen, to drag me in a few acres of oats, and to
+prepare the land for potatoes and corn. The former I dropped into the
+earth, while Jenny covered them up with the hoe.
+
+Our garden was well dug and plentifully manured, the old woman bringing
+the manure, which had lain for several years at the barn door, down to
+the plot, in a large Indian basket placed upon a hand-sleigh. We had
+soon every sort of vegetable sown, with plenty of melons and cucumbers,
+and all our beds promised a good return. There were large flights of
+ducks upon the lake every night and morning; but though we had guns,
+we did not know how to use them. However, I thought of a plan, which I
+flattered myself might prove successful; I got Sol to plant two stakes
+in the shallow water, near the rice beds, and to these I attached a
+slender rope, made by braiding long strips of the inner bark of the
+bass-wood together; to these again I fastened, at regular intervals,
+about a quarter of a yard of whip-cord, headed by a strong perch-hook.
+These hooks I baited with fish offal, leaving them to float just under
+the water. Early next morning, I saw a fine black duck fluttering upon
+the line. The boy ran down with the paddles, but before he could reach
+the spot, the captive got away by carrying the hook and line with him.
+At the next stake he found upon the hooks a large eel and a catfish.
+
+I had never before seen one of those whiskered, toad-like natives of the
+Canadian waters (so common to the Bay of Quinte, where they grow to a
+great size), that I was really terrified at the sight of the hideous
+beast, and told Sol to throw it away. In this I was very foolish, for
+they are esteemed good eating in many parts of Canada; but to me, the
+sight of the reptile-like thing is enough--it is uglier, and for more
+disgusting-looking than a toad.
+
+When the trees came into leaf, and the meadows were green, and flushed
+with flowers, the poor children used to talk constantly to me of their
+father's return; their innocent prattle made me very sad. Every evening
+we walked into the wood, along the path that he must come whenever he
+did return home, to meet him; and though it was a vain hope, and the
+walk was taken just to amuse the little ones, I used to be silly enough
+to feel deeply disappointed when we returned alone. Donald, who was
+a mere baby when his father left us, could just begin to put words
+together. "Who is papa?" "When will he come?" "Will he come by the
+road?" "Will he come in a canoe?" The little creature's curiosity to see
+this unknown father was really amusing; and oh! how I longed to present
+the little fellow, with his rosy cheeks and curling hair, to his father;
+he was so fair, so altogether charming in my eyes. Emilia had called
+him Cedric the Saxon; and he well suited the name with his frank, honest
+disposition, and large, loving blue eyes.
+
+June had commenced; the weather was very warm, and Mr. T---- had sent
+for the loan of old Jenny to help him for a day with his potatoes. I had
+just prepared dinner when the old woman came shrieking like a mad thing
+down the clearing, and waving her hands towards me. I could not imagine
+what had happened.
+
+"Ninny's mad!" whispered Dunbar; "she's the old girl for making a
+noise."
+
+"Joy! joy!" bawled out the old woman, now running breathlessly towards
+us. "The masther's come--the masther's come!"
+
+"Where?--where!"
+
+"Jist above in the wood. Goodness gracious! I have run to let you
+know--so fast--that my heart--is like to--break."
+
+Without stopping to comfort poor Jenny, off started the children and
+myself, at the very top of our speed; but I soon found that I could not
+run-I was too much agitated. I got to the head of the bush, and sat down
+upon a fallen tree. The children sprang forward like wild kids, all
+but Donald, who remained with his old nurse. I covered my face with my
+hands; my heart, too, was beating audibly: and now that he was come, and
+was so near me I scarcely could command strength to meet him. The sound
+of happy young voices roused me up; the children were leading him along
+in triumph; and he was bending down to them, all smiles, but hot and
+tired with his long journey. It was almost worth our separation, that
+blissful meeting. In a few minutes he was at home, and the children upon
+his knees. Katie stood silently holding his hand, but Addie and Dunbar
+had a thousand things to tell him. Donald was frightened at his military
+dress, but he peeped at him from behind my gown, until I caught and
+placed him in his father's arms.
+
+His leave of absence only extended to a fortnight. It had taken him
+three days to come all the way from Lake Erie, where his regiment was
+stationed, at Point Abino; and the same time would be consumed in his
+return. He could only remain with us eight days. How soon they fled
+away! How bitter was the thought of parting with him again! He had
+brought money to pay the J----'s. How surprised he was to find their
+large debt more than half liquidated. How gently did he chide me for
+depriving myself and the children of the little comforts he had designed
+for us, in order to make this sacrifice. But never was self-denial more
+fully rewarded; I felt happy in having contributed in the least to pay
+a just debt to kind and worthy people. You must become poor yourself
+before you can fully appreciate the good qualities of the poor--before
+you can sympathize with them, and fully recognize them as your brethren
+in the flesh. Their benevolence to each other, exercised amidst want and
+privation, as far surpasses the munificence of the rich towards them,
+as the exalted philanthropy of Christ and his disciples does the
+Christianity of the present day. The rich man gives from his abundance;
+the poor man shares with a distressed comrade his all.
+
+One short, happy week too soon fled away, and we were once more alone.
+In the fall, my husband expected the regiment in which he held his
+commission would be reduced, which would again plunge us into the same
+distressing poverty. Often of a night I revolved these things in my
+mind, and perplexed myself with conjectures as to what in future was to
+become of us. Although he had saved all he could from his pay, it was
+impossible to pay several hundreds of pounds of debt; and the steamboat
+stock still continued a dead letter. To remain much longer in the woods
+was impossible, for the returns from the farm scarcely fed us; and but
+for the clothing sent us by friends from home, who were not aware of our
+real difficulties, we should have been badly off indeed.
+
+I pondered over every plan that thought could devise; at last, I prayed
+to the Almighty to direct me as to what would be the best course for us
+to pursue. A sweet assurance stole over me, and soothed my spirit, that
+God would provide for us, as He had hitherto done--that a great deal of
+our distress arose from want of faith. I was just sinking into a calm
+sleep when the thought seemed whispered into my soul, "Write to the
+Governor; tell him candidly all you have suffered during sojourn in this
+country; and trust to God for the rest."
+
+At first I paid little heed to this suggestion; but it became so
+importunate that at last I determined to act upon it as if it were a
+message sent from heaven. I rose from my bed, struck a light, sat down,
+and wrote a letter to the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir George Arthur, a
+simple statement of facts, leaving it to his benevolence to pardon the
+liberty I had taken in addressing him.
+
+I asked of him to continue my husband in the militia service, in the
+same regiment in which he now held the rank of captain, which, by
+enabling him to pay our debts, would rescue us from our present misery.
+Of the political character of Sir George Arthur I knew nothing. I
+addressed him as a man and a Christian; and I acknowledge, with the
+deepest and most heartfelt gratitude, the generous kindness of his
+conduct towards us. Before the day dawned, my letter was ready for the
+post The first secret I ever had from my husband was the writing of that
+letter; and, proud and sensitive as he was, and averse to asking the
+least favour of the great, I was dreadfully afraid that the act I
+had just done would be displeasing to him; still, I felt resolutely
+determined to send it. After giving the children their breakfast, I
+walked down and read it to my brother-in-law, who was not only much
+pleased with its contents, but took it down himself to the post-office.
+
+Shortly after, I received a letter from my husband, informing me that
+the regiment had been reduced, and that he should be home in time to get
+in the harvest. Most anxiously I awaited a reply to my application to
+the Governor; but no reply came.
+
+The first week in August our dear Moodie came home, and brought with
+him, to our no small joy, J. E----, who had just returned from Ireland.
+E---- had been disappointed about the money, which was subject to
+litigation; and, tired of waiting at home until the tedious process of
+the law should terminate, he had come back to the woods, and, before
+night, was reinstated in his old quarters.
+
+His presence made Jenny all alive; she dared him at once to a trial of
+skill with her in the wheat-field, which E---- prudently declined. He
+did not expect to stay longer in Canada than the fall, but, whilst he
+did stay, he was to consider our house his home.
+
+That harvest was the happiest we ever spent in the bush. We had enough
+of the common necessaries of life. A spirit of peace and harmony
+pervaded our little dwelling, for the most affectionate attachment
+existed among its members. We were not troubled with servants, for the
+good old Jenny we regarded as an humble friend, and were freed, by that
+circumstance, from many of the cares and vexations of a bush life. Our
+evening excursions on the lake were doubly enjoyed after the labours of
+the day, and night brought us calm and healthful repose.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE WHIRLWIND.
+
+
+The 19th of April came, and our little harvest was all safely housed.
+Business called Moodie away for a few days to Cobourg; Jenny had gone to
+Dummer, to visit her friends, and J. E---- had taken a grist of the new
+wheat, which he and Moodie had threshed the day before, to the mill. I
+was consequently left alone with the children, and had a doable portion
+of work to do. During their absence it was my lot to witness the most
+awful storm I ever beheld, and a vivid recollection of its terrors was
+permanently fixed upon my memory.
+
+The weather had been intensely hot during the three preceding days,
+although the sun was entirely obscured by a blueish haze, which seemed
+to render the unusual heat of the atmosphere more oppressive. Not
+a breath of air stirred the vast forest, and the waters of the lake
+assumed a leaden hue. After passing a sleepless night, I arose, a little
+after daybreak, to superintend my domestic affairs. E---- took his
+breakfast, and went off to the mill, hoping that the rain would keep off
+until after his return.
+
+"It is no joke," he said, "being upon these lakes in a small canoe,
+heavily laden, in a storm."
+
+Before the sun rose, the heavens were covered with hard-looking clouds,
+of a deep blue and black cast, fading away to white at their edges, and
+in form resembling the long, rolling waves of a heavy sea--but with this
+difference, that the clouds were perfectly motionless, piled in long
+curved lines, one above the other, and so remained until four o'clock in
+the afternoon. The appearance of these clouds, as the sun rose above the
+horizon, was the most splendid that can be imagined, tinged up to the
+zenith with every shade of saffron, gold, rose-colour, scarlet, and
+crimson, fading away into the deepest violet. Never did the storm-fiend
+shake in the face of day a more gorgeous banner; and, pressed as I
+was for time, I stood gazing like one entranced upon the magnificent
+pageant.
+
+As the day advanced, the same blue haze obscured the sun, which frowned
+redly through his misty veil. At ten o'clock the heat was suffocating,
+and I extinguished the fire in the cooking-stove, determined to make our
+meals upon bread and milk, rather than add to the oppressive heat. The
+thermometer in the shade ranged from ninety-six to ninety-eight degrees,
+and I gave over my work and retired with the little ones to the coolest
+part of the house. The young creatures stretched themselves upon the
+floor, unable to jump about or play; the dog lay panting in the shade;
+the fowls half buried themselves in the dust, with open beaks and
+outstretched wings. All nature seemed to droop beneath the scorching
+heat.
+
+Unfortunately for me, a gentleman arrived about one o'clock from
+Kingston, to transact some business with my husband. He had not tasted
+food since six o'clock, and I was obliged to kindle the fire to prepare
+his dinner. It was one of the hardest tasks I ever performed; I almost
+fainted with the heat, and most inhospitably rejoiced when his dinner
+was over, and I saw him depart. Shortly afterwards, my friend Mrs. C----
+and her brother called in, on their way from Peterborough.
+
+"How do you bear the heat?" asked Mrs. C----. "This is one of the
+hottest days I ever remember to have experienced in this part of the
+province. I am afraid that it will end in a hurricane, or what the Lower
+Canadians term 'L'Orage.'"
+
+About four o'clock they rose to go. I urged them to stay onger. "No,"
+said Mrs. C----, "the sooner we get home the better. I think we can
+reach it before the storm breaks."
+
+I took Donald in my arms, and my eldest boy by the hand, and walked with
+them to the brow of the hill, thinking that the air would be cooler in
+the shade. In this I was mistaken. The clouds over our heads hung so
+low, and the heat was so great, that I was soon glad to retrace my
+steps.
+
+The moment I turned round to face the lake, I was surprised at the
+change that had taken place in the appearance of the heavens. The
+clouds, that had before lain so motionless, were now in rapid motion,
+hurrying and chasing each other round the horizon. It was a strangely
+awful sight. Before I felt a breath of the mighty blast that had already
+burst on the other side of the lake, branches of trees, leaves, and
+clouds of dust were whirled across the lake, whose waters rose in long
+sharp furrows, fringed with foam, as if moved in their depths by some
+unseen but powerful agent.
+
+Panting with terror, I just reached the door of the house as the
+hurricane swept up the hill, crushing and overturning every thing in
+its course. Spell-bound, I stood at the open door, with clasped hands,
+unable to speak, rendered dumb and motionless by the terrible grandeur
+of the scene; while little Donald, who could not utter many intelligible
+words, crept to my feet, appealing to me for protection, while his rosy
+cheeks paled even to marble whiteness. The hurrying clouds gave to the
+heavens the appearance of a pointed dome, round which the lightning
+played in broad ribbons of fire. The roaring of the thunder, the rushing
+of the blast, the impetuous down-pouring of the rain, and the crash
+of falling trees, were perfectly deafening; and in the midst of this
+up-roar of the elements, old Jenny burst in, drenched with wet and half
+dead with fear.
+
+"The Lord preserve us!" she cried, "this surely is the day of judgment.
+Fifty trees fell across my very path, between this an' the creek. Mrs.
+C---- just reached her brother's clearing a few minutes before a great
+oak fell on her very path. What thunther!--what lightning! Misthress,
+dear!--it's turn'd so dark, I can only jist see yer face."
+
+Glad enough was I of her presence; for to be alone in the heart of
+the great forest, in a log hut, on such a night, was not a pleasing
+prospect. People gain courage by companionship, and in order to reassure
+each other, struggle to conceal their fears.
+
+"And where is Mr. E----?"
+
+"I hope not on the lake. He went early this morning to get the wheat
+ground at the mill."
+
+"Och, the crathur! He's surely drowned. What boat could stan' such a
+scrimmage as this?"
+
+I had my fears for poor John; but as the chance that he had to wait
+at the mill till others were served was more than probable, I tried to
+still my apprehensions for his safety. The storm soon passed over, after
+having levelled several acres of wood near the house, and smitten down
+in its progress two gigantic pines in the clearing, which must have
+withstood the force of a thousand winters. Talking over the effects of
+this whirlwind with my brother, he kindly sent me the following very
+graphic description of a whirlwind which passed through the town of
+Guelph in the summer of 1829.
+
+[Footnote: Written by Mr Strickland, of Douro.] "In my hunting
+excursions and rambles through the Upper Canadian forests, I had
+frequently met with extensive wind-falls; and observed with some
+surprise that the fallen trees lay strewn in a succession of circles,
+and evidently appeared to have been twisted off the stumps. I also
+remarked that these wind-falls were generally narrow, and had the
+appearance of a road slashed through the forest. From observations made
+at the time, and since confirmed, I have no doubt that Colonel Reid's
+theory of storms's a correct one, viz., that all wind-storms move in a
+circular direction, and the nearer the centre the more violent the force
+of the wind. Having seen the effects of several similar hurricanes
+since my residence in Canada West, I shall proceed to describe one which
+happened in the township of Guelph during the early part of the summer
+of 1829.
+
+"The weather, for the season of the year (May), had been hot and sultry,
+with scarcely a breath of wind stirring. I had heard distant thunder
+from an early hour in the morning, which, from the eastward, is rather
+an unusual occurrence. About 10 A. M., the sky had a most singular, and
+I must add a most awful appearance, presenting to the view a vast arch
+of rolling blackness, which seemed to gather strength and density as
+it approached the zenith. All at once the clouds began to work round in
+circles, as if chasing one another through the air. Suddenly the dark
+arch of clouds appeared to break up into detached masses, whirling and
+mixing through each other in dreadful commotion. The forked lightning
+was incessant, accompanied by heavy thunder. In a short time, the clouds
+seemed to converge to a point, which approached very near the earth,
+still whirling with great rapidity directly under this point; and
+apparently from the midst of the woods arose a black column, in the
+shape of a cone, which instantly joined itself to the depending cloud.
+The sight was now grand and awful in the extreme. Picture, to your
+imagination a vast column of smoke, of inky blackness, reaching from
+earth to heaven, gyrating with fearful velocity--bright lightnings
+issuing from the vortex; the roar of the thunder--the rushing of the
+blast--the crash of timber--the limbs of trees, leaves, and rubbish,
+mingled with clouds of dust, whirling through the air;--you then have a
+faint idea of the scene.
+
+"I had ample time for observation, as the hurricane commenced its
+devastating course about two miles from the town, through the centre of
+which it took its way, passing within fifty yards of where a number
+of persons, myself among the rest, were standing, watching its fearful
+progress.
+
+"As the tornado approached, the trees seemed to fall like a pack
+of cards before its irresistible current. After passing through the
+clearing made around the village, the force of the wind gradually
+abated, and in a few minutes died away entirely.
+
+"As soon as the storm was over, I went to see the damage it had done.
+From the point where I first observed the black column to rise from the
+woods and join the clouds, the trees were twisted in every direction.
+A belt of timber had been levelled to the ground, about two miles in
+length and about one hundred yards in breadth. At the entrance of the
+town it crossed the river Speed, and uprooted about six acres of wood,
+which had been thinned out, and left by Mr. Gait (late superintendent of
+the Canada Company), as an ornament to his house.
+
+"The Eremosa road was completely blocked up for nearly half-a-mile, in
+the wildest confusion possible. In its progress through the town the
+storm unroofed several houses, levelled many fences to the ground, and
+entirely demolished a frame barn. Windows were dashed in; and, in one
+instance, the floor of a log house was carried through the roof. Some
+hairbreadth escapes occurred; but, luckily, no lives were lost.
+
+"About twelve years since a similar storm occurred in the north part
+of the township of Douro, but was of much less magnitude. I heard an
+intelligent settler, who resided some years in the township of Madoc,
+state that, during his residence in that township, a similar hurricane
+to the one I have described, though of a much more awful character,
+passed through a part of Marmora and Madoc, and had been traced, in a
+north-easterly direction, upwards of forty miles into the unsurveyed
+lands; the uniform width of which appeared to be three quarters of a
+mile.
+
+"It is very evident, from the traces which they have left behind them,
+that storms of this description have not been unfrequent in the
+wooded districts of Canada; and it becomes a matter of interesting
+consideration whether the clearing of our immense forests will not, in a
+great measure, remove the cause of these phenomena."
+
+A few minutes after our household had retired to rest, my first sleep
+was broken by the voice of J. E----, speaking to old Jenny in the
+kitchen. He had been overtaken by the storm but had run his canoe ashore
+upon an island before its full fury burst, and turned it over the flour;
+while he had to brave the terrors of a pitiless tempest--buffeted by the
+wind, and drenched with torrents of rain. I got up and made him a cup of
+tea, while Jenny prepared a rasher of bacon and eggs for his supper.
+
+Shortly after this, J. E---- bade a final adieu to Canada, with his
+cousin C. W----. He volunteered into the Scotch Greys, and we never saw
+him more; but I have been told that he was so highly respected by the
+officers of the regiment that they subscribed for his commission; that
+he rose to the rank of lieutenant; accompanied the regiment to India,
+and was at the taking of Cabul; but from himself we never heard again.
+
+The 16th of October, my third son was born; and a few days after, my
+husband was appointed paymaster to the militia regiments in the V.
+District, with the rank and full pay of captain. This was Sir George
+Arthur's doing. He returned no answer to my application, but he did not
+forget us. As the time that Moodie might retain this situation was very
+doubtful, he thought it advisable not to remove me and the family until
+he could secure some permanent situation; by so doing, he would have a
+better opportunity of saving the greater part of his income to pay off
+his old debts.
+
+This winter of 1839 was one of severe trial to me. Hitherto I had
+enjoyed the blessing of health; but both the children and myself were
+now doomed to suffer from dangerous attacks of illness. All the little
+things had malignant scarlet fever, and for several days I thought it
+would please the Almighty to take from me my two girls. This fever is
+so fatal to children in Canada that none of my neighbours dared approach
+the house. For three weeks Jenny and I were never undressed; our whole
+time was taken up in nursing the five little helpless creatures through
+the successive stages of their alarming disease. I sent for Dr. Taylor;
+but he did not come, and I was obliged to trust to the mercy of God,
+and my own judgment and good nursing. Though I escaped the fever, mental
+anxiety and fatigue brought on other illness, which for nearly ten weeks
+rendered me perfectly helpless. When I was again able to creep from
+my sick bed, the baby was seized with an illness, which Dr. B----
+pronounced mortal. Against all hope, he recovered, but these severe
+mental trials rendered me weak and nervous, and more anxious than ever
+to be re-united to my husband. To add to these troubles, my sister and
+her husband sold their farm, and removed from our neighbourhood. Mr.
+---- had returned to England, and had obtained a situation in the
+Customs; and his wife, my friend Emilia, was keeping a school in the
+village; so that I felt more solitary than ever, thus deprived of so
+many kind, sympathizing friends.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE WALK TO DUMMER.
+
+
+Reader! have you ever heard of a place situated in the forest-depths of
+this far western wilderness, called Dummer? Ten years ago it might not
+inaptly have been termed "The _last_ clearing in the World." Nor to
+this day do I know of any in that direction which extends beyond it. Our
+bush-farm was situated on the border-line of a neighbouring township,
+only one degree less wild, less out of the worid, or nearer to the
+habitations of civilization than the far-famed "English Line," the boast
+and glory of this _terra incognita_.
+
+This place, so named by the emigrants who had pitched their tents in
+that solitary wilderness, was a long line of cleared land, extending
+upon either side for some miles through the darkest and most
+interminable forest. The English Line was inhabited chiefly by Cornish
+miners, who, tired of burrowing like moles underground, had determined
+to emigrate to Canada, where they could breathe the fresh air of heaven,
+and obtain the necessaries of life upon the bosom of their mother earth.
+Strange as it may appear, these men made good farmers, and steady,
+industrious colonists, working as well above ground as they had toiled
+in their early days beneath it. All our best servants came from Dummer;
+and although they spoke a language difficult to be understood, and
+were uncouth in their manners and appearance, they were faithful
+and obedient, performing the tasks assigned to them with patient
+perseverance; good food and kind treatment rendering them always
+cheerful and contented.
+
+My dear old Jenny, that most faithful and attached of all humble
+domestic friends, came from Dummer, and I was wont to regard it with
+complacency for her sake. But Jenny was not English; she was a generous,
+warm-hearted daughter of the Green Isle--the emerald gem set in the
+silver of ocean. Yes, Jenny was one of the poorest children of that
+impoverished but glorious country where wit and talent seem indigenous,
+springing up spontaneously in the rudest and most uncultivated minds;
+showing what the land could bring forth in its own strength, unaided by
+education, and unfettered by the conventional rules of society. Jenny
+was a striking instance of the worth, noble self-denial, and devotion,
+which are often met with--and, alas! but too often disregarded--in the
+poor and ignorant natives of that deeply-injured and much-abused land.
+A few words about my old favourite may not prove uninteresting to my
+readers.
+
+Jenny Buchanan, or, as she called it, Bohanon, was the daughter of a
+petty exciseman, of Scotch extraction (hence her industry), who, at the
+time of her birth, resided near the old town of Inniskillen. Her mother
+died a few months after she was born; and her father, within the twelve
+months, married again. In the mean while the poor orphan babe had been
+adopted by a kind neighbour, the wife of a small farmer in the vicinity.
+
+In return for coarse food and scanty clothing, the little Jenny became
+a servant of all work. She fed the pigs, herded the cattle, assisted
+in planting potatoes and digging peat from the bog, and was undisputed
+mistress of the poultry-yard. As she grew up to womanhood, the
+importance of her labours increased. A better reaper in the
+harvest-field, or footer of turf in the bog, could not be found in the
+district, or a woman more thoroughly acquainted with the management
+of cows and the rearing of young cattle; but here poor Jenny's
+accomplishments terminated.
+
+Her usefulness was all abroad. Within the house she made more dirt than
+she had the inclination or the ability to clear away. She could neither
+read, nor knit, nor sew; and although she called herself a Protestant,
+and a Church of England woman, she knew no more of religion, as revealed
+to man through the Word of God, than the savage who sinks to the grave
+in ignorance of a Redeemer. Hence she stoutly resisted all idea of being
+a sinner, or of standing the least chance of receiving hereafter the
+condemnation of one.
+
+"Och, shure thin," she would say, with simple earnestness of look and
+manner, almost irresistible, "God will never trouble Himsel' about a
+poor, hard-working crathur like me, who never did any harm to the manest
+of His makin'."
+
+One thing was certain, that a benevolent Providence had, "throubled
+Himsel'" about poor Jenny in times past, for the warm heart of this
+neglected child of Nature contained a stream of the richest benevolence,
+which, situated as she had been, could not have been derived from any
+other source. Honest, faithful, and industrious, Jenny became a law
+unto herself, and practically illustrated the golden rule of her blessed
+Lord, "to do unto others as we would they should do unto us." She
+thought it was impossible that her poor services could ever repay the
+debt of gratitude that she owed to the family who had brought her up,
+although the obligation must have been entirely on their side. To them
+she was greatly attached--for them she toiled unceasingly; and when evil
+days came, and they were not able to meet the rent-day, or to occupy the
+farm, she determined to accompany them in their emigration to Canada,
+and formed one of the stout-hearted band that fixed its location in the
+lonely and unexplored wilds now known as the township of Dummer.
+
+During the first year of their settlement, the means of obtaining the
+common necessaries of life became so precarious, that, in order to
+assist her friends with a little ready money, Jenny determined to hire
+out into some wealthy house as a servant. When I use the term wealth
+as applied to any bush-settler, it is of course only comparatively; but
+Jenny was anxious to obtain a place with settlers who enjoyed a small
+income independent of their forest means.
+
+Her first speculation was a complete failure. For five long, hopeless
+years she served a master from whom she never received a farthing of her
+stipulated wages. Still her attachment to the family was so strong, and
+had become so much the necessity of her life, that the poor creature
+could not make up her mind to leave them. The children whom she had
+received into her arms at their birth, and whom she had nursed with
+maternal tenderness, were as dear to her as if they had been her own;
+she continued to work for them, although her clothes were worn to
+tatters, and her own friends were too poor to replace them.
+
+Her master, Captain N----, a handsome, dashing officer, who had served
+many years in India, still maintained the carriage and appearance of a
+gentleman, in spite of his mental and moral degradation, arising from a
+constant state of intoxication; he still promised to remunerate at some
+future day her faithful services; and although all his neighbours well
+knew that his means were exhausted, and that that day would never come,
+yet Jenny, in the simplicity of her faith, still toiled on, in the hope
+that the better day he spoke of would soon arrive.
+
+And now a few words respecting this master, which I trust may serve as a
+warning to others. Allured by the bait that has been the ruin of so many
+of his class, the offer of a large grant of land, Captain N---- had been
+induced to form a settlement in this remote and untried township; laying
+out much, if not all, of his available means in building a log house,
+and clearing a large extent of barren and stony land. To this uninviting
+home he conveyed a beautiful young wife, and a small and increasing
+family. The result may be easily anticipated. The want of society--a
+dreadful want to a man of his previous habits--the total absence of all
+the comforts and decencies of life; produced inaction, apathy, and
+at last, despondency, which was only alleviated by a constant and
+immoderate use of ardent spirits. As long as Captain N---- retained his
+half pay, he contrived to exist. In an evil hour he parted with this,
+and quickly trod the down-hill path to ruin.
+
+And here I would remark that it is always a rash and hazardous step for
+any officer to part with his half pay; although it is almost every day
+done, and generally followed by the same disastrous results. A-certain
+income, however small, in a country where money is so hard to be
+procured, and where labour cannot be attained but at a very high
+pecuniary remuneration, is invaluable to a gentleman unaccustomed to
+agricultural employment; who, without this reserve to pay his people,
+during the brief but expensive seasons of seed-time and harvest, must
+either work himself or starve. I have known no instance in which such
+sale has been attended with ultimate advantage; but, alas! too many
+in which it has terminated in the most distressing destitution. These
+government grants of land, to half-pay officers, have induced numbers of
+this class to emigrate to the backwoods of Canada, who are totally
+unfit for pioneers; but, tempted by the offer of finding themselves
+landholders of what, on paper, appear to them fine estates, they
+resign a certainty, to waste their energies, and die half-starved and
+broken-hearted in the depths of the pitiless wild.
+
+If a gentleman so situated would give up all idea of settling on his
+grant, but hire a good farm in a favourable situation--that is, not too
+far from a market--and with his half pay hire efficient labourers,
+of which plenty are now to be had, to cultivate the land, with common
+prudence and economy, he would soon obtain a comfortable subsistence
+for his family. And if the males were brought up to share the burden and
+heat of the day, the expense of hired labour, as it yearly diminished,
+would add to the general means and well-being of the whole, until the
+hired farm became the real property of the industrious tenants. But the
+love of show, the vain boast of appearing richer and better dressed than
+our neighbours, too often involves the emigrant's family in debt, from
+which they are seldom able to extricate themselves without sacrificing
+the means which would have secured their independence.
+
+This, although a long digression, will not, I hope, be without its
+use; and if this book is regarded not as a work of amusement but one
+of practical experience, written for the benefit of others, it will
+not fail to convey some useful hints to those who have contemplated
+emigration to Canada: the best country in the world for the industrious
+and well-principled man, who really comes out to work, and to better his
+condition by the labour of his hands; but a gulf of ruin to the vain and
+idle, who only set foot upon these shores to accelerate their ruin.
+
+But to return to Captain N----. It was at this disastrous period
+that Jenny entered his service. Had her master adapted his habits and
+expenditure to his altered circumstances, much misery might have been
+spared, both to himself and his family. But he was a proud man--too
+proud to work, or to receive with kindness the offers of service
+tendered to him by his half-civilized, but well-meaning neighbours.
+
+"Hang him!" cried an indignant English settler (Captain N---- was an
+Irishman), whose offer of drawing wood had been rejected with unmerited
+contempt. "Wait a few years and we shall see what his pride will do for
+him. _I am_ sorry for his poor wife and children; but for himself, I
+have no pity for him."
+
+This man had been uselessly insulted, at the very moment when he was
+anxious to perform a kind and benevolent action; when, like a true
+Englishman, his heart was softened by witnessing the sufferings of a
+young delicate female and her infant family. Deeply affronted by the
+Captain's foolish conduct, he now took a malignant pleasure in watching
+his arrogant neighbour's progress to ruin.
+
+The year after the sale of his commission, Captain N---- found himself
+considerably in debt, "Never mind, Ella," he said to his anxious wife;
+"the crops will pay all."
+
+The crops were a failure that year. Creditors pressed hard; the
+Captain had no money to pay his workmen, and he would not work himself.
+Disgusted with his location, but unable to change it for a better;
+without friends of his own class (for he was the only gentleman then
+resident in the new township), to relieve the monotony of his existence
+with their society, or to afford him advice or assistance in his
+difficulties, the fatal whiskey-bottle became his refuge from gloomy
+thoughts.
+
+His wife, an amiable and devoted creature, well born, well educated,
+and deserving of a better lot, did all in her power to wean him from
+the growing vice. But, alas! the pleadings of an angel, in such
+circumstances, would have had little effect upon the mind of such a man.
+He loved her as well as he could love any thing, and he fancied that he
+loved his children, while he was daily reducing them, by his favourite
+vice, to beggary.
+
+For awhile, he confined his excesses to his own fireside, but this was
+only for as long a period as the sale of his stock and laud would supply
+him with the means of criminal indulgence. After a time, all these
+resources failed, and his large grant of eight hundred acres of land had
+been converted into whiskey, except the one hundred acres on which his
+house and barn stood, embracing the small clearing from which the family
+derived their scanty supply of wheat and potatoes. For the sake of
+peace, his wife gave up all her ornaments and household plate, and the
+best articles of a once handsome and ample wardrobe, in the hope of
+hiding her sorrows from the world, and keeping her husband at home.
+
+The pride, that had rendered him so obnoxious to his humbler neighbours,
+yielded at length to the inordinate craving for drink; the man who had
+held himself so high above his honest and industrious fellow-settlers,
+could now unblushingly enter their cabins and beg for a drop of whiskey.
+The feeling of shame once subdued, there was no end to his audacious
+mendicity. His whole time was spent in wandering about the country,
+calling upon every new settler, in the hope of being asked to partake
+of the coveted poison. He was even known to enter by the window of an
+emigrant's cabin, during the absence of the owner, and remain drinking
+in the house while a drop of spirits could be found in the cupboard.
+When driven forth by the angry owner of the hut, he wandered on to the
+distant town of P----, and lived there in a low tavern, while his wife
+and children were starving at home.
+
+"He is the filthiest beast in the township," said the aforementioned
+neighbour to me; "it would be a good thing for his wife and children if
+his worthless neck were broken in one of hit, drunken sprees."
+
+This might be the melancholy fact, but it was not the less dreadful
+on that account. The husband of an affectionate wife--the father of a
+lovely family--and his death to be a matter of rejoicing!--a blessing,
+instead of being an affliction!--an agony not to be thought upon without
+the deepest sorrow.
+
+It was at this melancholy period of her sad history that Mrs. N----
+found, in Jenny Buchanan, a help in her hour of need. The heart of the
+faithful creature bled for the misery; which involved the wife of her
+degraded master, and the children she so dearly loved. Their want and
+destitution called all the sympathies of her ardent nature into active
+operation; they were long indebted to her labour for every morsel of
+food which they consumed. For them, she sowed, she planted, she reaped.
+Every block of wood which shed a cheering warmth around their desolate
+home was cut from the forest by her own hands, and brought up a steep
+hill to the house upon her back. For them, she coaxed the neighbours,
+with whom she was a general favourite, out of many a mess of eggs for
+their especial benefit; while with, her cheerful songs, and hearty,
+hopeful disposition, she dispelled much of the cramping despair which
+chilled the heart of the unhappy mother in her deserted home.
+
+For several years did this great, poor woman keep the wolf from the door
+of her beloved mistress, toiling for her with the strength and energy
+of a man. When was man ever so devoted, so devoid of all selfishness,
+so attached to employers, yet poorer than herself, as this uneducated
+Irishwoman?
+
+A period was at length put to her unrequited services. In a fit of
+intoxication her master beat her severely with the iron ramrod of his
+gun, and turned her, with abusive language, from his doors. Oh, hard
+return for all her unpaid labours of love! She forgave this outrage for
+the sake of the helpless beings who depended upon her care. He repeated
+the injury, and the poor creature returned almost heart broken to her
+former home.
+
+Thinking that his spite would subside in a few days, Jenny made a third
+effort to enter his house in her usual capacity; but Mrs. N---- told
+her, with many tears, that her presence would only enrage her husband,
+who had threatened herself with the most cruel treatment if she allowed
+the faithful servant again to enter the house. Thus ended her five
+years' service to this ungrateful master. Such was her reward!
+
+I heard of Jenny's worth and kindness from the Englishman who had been
+so grievously affronted by Captain N----, and sent for her to come to
+me. She instantly accepted my offer, and returned with my messenger. She
+had scarcely a garment to cover her. I was obliged to find her a suit
+of clothes before I could set her to work. The smiles and dimples of
+my curly-headed, rosy little Donald, then a baby-boy of fifteen months,
+consoled the old woman for her separation from Ellie N----; and the
+good-will with which all the children (now four in number) regarded the
+kind old body, soon endeared to her the new home which Providence had
+assigned to her.
+
+Her accounts of Mrs. N----, and her family, soon deeply interested me in
+her fate; and Jenny never went to visit her friends in Dummer without an
+interchange of good wishes passing between us.
+
+The year of the Canadian rebellion came, and brought with it sorrow into
+many a bush dwelling. Old Jenny and I were left alone with the little
+children, in the depths of the dark forest, to help ourselves in the
+best way we could. Men could not be procured in that thinly-settled
+spot for love nor money, and I now fully realized the extent of Jenny's
+usefulness. Daily she yoked the oxen, and brought down from the bush
+fuel to maintain our fires, which she felled and chopped up with her own
+hands. She fed the cattle, and kept all things snug about the doors; not
+forgetting to load her master's two guns, "in case," as she said, "the
+ribels should attack us in our retrate."
+
+The months of November and December of 1838 had beer unnaturally mild
+for this iron climate; but the opening of the ensuing January brought
+a short but severe spell of frost and snow. We felt very lonely in
+our solitary dwelling, crouching round the blazing fire, that scarcely
+chased the cold from our miserable log tenement, until this dreary
+period was suddenly cheered by the unexpected presence of my beloved
+friend, Emilia, who came to spend a week with me in my forest home.
+
+She brought her own baby-boy with her, and an ample supply of buffalo
+robes, not forgetting a treat of baker's bread, and "sweeties" for the
+children. Oh, dear Emilia! best and kindest of women, though absent in
+your native land, long, long shall my heart cherish with affectionate
+gratitude all your visits of love, and turn to you as to a sister,
+tried, and found most faithful, in the dark hour of adversity, and
+amidst the almost total neglect of those from whom nature claimed a
+tenderer and holier sympathy.
+
+Great was the joy of Jenny at this accession to our family party, and
+after Mrs. S---- was well warmed, and had partaken of tea--the only
+refreshment we could offer her--we began to talk over the news of the
+place.
+
+"By the by, Jenny," said she, turning to the old servant, who was
+undressing the little boy by the fire, "have you heard lately from poor
+Mrs. N----? We have been told that she and the family are in a dreadful
+state of destitution. That worthless man has left them for the States,
+and it is supposed that he has joined Mackenzie's band of ruffians on
+Navy Island; but whether this be true or false, he has deserted his wife
+and children, taking his eldest son along with him (who might have been
+of some service at home), and leaving them without money or food."
+
+"The good Lord! What will become of the crathurs?" responded Jenny,
+wiping her wrinkled cheek with the back of her hard, brown hand. "An'
+thin they have not a sowl to chop and draw them firewood; an' the
+weather so oncommon savare. Och hone! what has not that _baste_ of a man
+to answer for?"
+
+"I heard," continued Mrs. S----, "that they have tasted no food but
+potatoes for the last nine months, and scarcely enough of them to keep
+soul and body together; that they have sold their last cow; and the poor
+young lady and her second brother, a lad of only twelve years old, bring
+all the wood for the fire from the bush on a hand-sleigh."
+
+"Oh, dear!--oh, dear!" sobbed Jenny; "an' I not there to hilp them! An'
+poor Miss Mary, the tinder thing! Oh, 'tis hard, terribly hard for the
+crathurs! an' they not used to the like."
+
+"Can nothing be done for them?" said I.
+
+"That is what we want to know," returned Emilia, "and that was one of my
+reasons for coming up to D----. I wanted to consult you and Jenny
+upon the subject. You who are an officer's wife, and I, who am both an
+officer's wife and daughter, ought to devise some plan of rescuing this
+unfortunate lady and her family from her present forlorn situation."
+
+The tears sprang to my eyes, and I thought, in the bitterness of my
+heart, upon my own galling poverty, that my pockets did not contain even
+a single copper, and that I had scarcely garments enough to shield me
+from the inclemency of the weather. By unflinching industry, and taking
+my part in the toil of the field, I had bread for myself and family, and
+this was more than poor Mrs. N---- possessed; but it appeared impossible
+for me to be of any assistance to the unhappy sufferer, and the thought
+of my incapacity gave me severe pain. It was only in moments like the
+present that I felt the curse of poverty.
+
+"Well," continued my friend, "you see, Mrs. Moodie, that the ladies of
+P---- are all anxious to do what they can for her; but they first want
+to learn if the miserable circumstances in which she is said to be
+placed are true. In short, my dear friend, they want you and me to make
+a pilgrimage to Dummer, to see the poor lady herself; and then they will
+be guided by our report."
+
+"Then let us lose no time in going upon our own mission of mercy."
+
+"Och, my dear heart, you will be lost in the woods!" said old Jenny.
+"It is nine long miles to the first clearing, and that through a lonely,
+blazed path. After you are through the beaver-meadow, there is not a
+single hut for you to rest or warm yourselves. It is too much for the
+both of yees; you will be frozen to death on the road."
+
+"No fear," said my benevolent friend; "God will take care of us, Jenny.
+It is on His errand we go; to carry a message of hope to one about to
+perish."
+
+"The Lord bless you for a darlint," cried the old woman, devoutly
+kissing the velvet cheek of the little fellow sleeping upon her lap.
+"May your own purty child never know the want and sorrow that is around
+her."
+
+Emilia and I talked over the Dummer scheme until we fell asleep. Many
+were the plans we proposed for the immediate relief of the unfortunate
+family. Early the next morning, my brother-in-law, Mr. T----, called
+upon my friend. The subject next our heart was immediately introduced,
+and he was called into the general council. His feelings, like our own,
+were deeply interested; and he proposed that we should each provide
+something from our own small stores to satisfy the pressing wants of
+the distressed family; while he promised to bring his cutter, the next
+morning, and take us through the beaver-meadow, and to the edge of the
+great swamp, which would shorten four miles, at least, of our long and
+hazardous journey.
+
+We joyfully acceded to his proposal, and set cheerfully to work to
+provide for the morrow. Jenny baked a batch of her very best bread, and
+boiled a large piece of beef; and Mr. T---- brought with him, the next
+day, a fine cooked ham, in a sack, into the bottom of which he stowed
+the beef and loaves, besides some sugar and tea, which his own kind
+wife, the author of "The Backwoods of Canada," had sent. I had some
+misgivings as to the manner in which these good things could be
+introduced to the poor lady, who, I had heard, was reserved and proud.
+
+"Oh, Jenny," I said, "how shall I be able to ask her to accept
+provisions from strangers? I am afraid of wounding her feelings."
+
+"Oh, darlint, never fear'that! She is proud, I know; but 'tis not a
+stiff pride, but jist enough to consale her disthress from her ignorant
+English neighbours, who think so manely of poor folk like her who were
+once rich. She will be very thankful to you for your kindness, for she
+has not experienced much of it from the Dummer people in her throuble,
+though she may have no words to tell you so. Say that old Jenny sent
+the bread to dear wee Ellie, 'cause she knew she would like a loaf of
+Jenny's bakin'."
+
+"But the meat."
+
+"Och, the mate, is it? Maybe, you'll think of some excuse for the mate
+when you get there."
+
+"I hope so; but I'm a sad coward with strangers, and I have lived so
+long out of the world that I am at a great loss what to do. I will try
+and put a good face on the matter. Your name, Jenny, will be no small
+help to me."
+
+All was now ready. Kissing our little bairns, who crowded around us with
+eager and inquiring looks, and charging Jenny for the hundredth time to
+take especial care of them during our absence, we mounted the cutter,
+and set off, under the care and protection of Mr. T----, who determined
+to accompany us on the journey.
+
+It was a black, cold day; no sun visible in the gray, dark sky; a keen,
+cutting wind, and hard frost. We crouched close to each other.
+
+"Good heavens, how cold it is!" whispered Emilia. "What a day for such a
+journey!"
+
+She had scarcely ceased speaking, when the cutter went upon a stump
+which lay concealed under the drifted snow; and we, together with the
+ruins of our conveyance, were scattered around.
+
+"A bad beginning," said my brother-in-law, with a rueful aspect, as he
+surveyed the wreck of the cutter from which we had promised ourselves so
+much benefit. "There is no help for it but to return home."
+
+"Oh, no," said Mrs. S----; "bad beginnings make good endings, you know.
+Let us go on; it will be far better walking than riding such a dreadful
+day. My feet are half frozen already with sitting still."
+
+"But, my dear madam," expostulated Mr. T----, "consider the distance,
+the road, the dark, dull day, and our imperfect knowledge of the path.
+I will get the cutter mended to-morrow; and the day after we may be able
+to proceed."
+
+"Delays are dangerous," said the pertinacious Emilia, who, woman-like,
+was determined to have her own way. "Now or never. While we wait for the
+broken cutter, the broken hearted Mrs. N---- may starve. We can stop at
+Colonel C----'s and warm ourselves, and you can leave the cutter at his
+house until our return."
+
+"It was upon your account that I proposed the delay," said the good Mr.
+T----, taking the sack, which was no inconsiderable weight, upon his
+shoulder, and driving his horse before him into neighbour W----'s
+stable. "Where you go, I am ready to follow."
+
+When we arrived, Colonel C----'s family were at breakfast, of which they
+made us partake; and after vainly endeavouring to dissuade us from what
+appeared to them our Quixotic expedition, Mrs. C---- added a dozen fine
+white fish to the contents of the sack, and sent her youngest son to
+help Mr. T---- along with his burthen, and to bear us company on our
+desolate road.
+
+Leaving the Colonel's hospitable house on our left, we again plunged
+into the woods, and after a few minutes' brisk walking, found ourselves
+upon the brow of a steep bank that overlooked the beaver-meadow,
+containing within its area several hundred acres.
+
+There is no scenery in the bush that presents such a novel appearance as
+those meadows, or openings, surrounded, as they invariably are, by dark,
+intricate forests; their high, rugged banks covered with the light, airy
+tamarack and silver birch. In summer they look like a lake of soft, rich
+verdure, hidden in the bosom of the barren and howling waste. Lakes they
+certainly have been, from which the waters have receded, "ages, ages
+long ago;" and still the whole length of these curious level valleys is
+traversed by a stream, of no inconsiderable dimensions.
+
+The waters of the narrow, rapid creek, which flowed through the meadow
+we were about to cross, were of sparkling brightness, and icy cold. The
+frost-king had no power to check their swift, dancing movements, or stop
+their perpetual song. On they leaped, sparkling and flashing beneath
+their ice-crowned banks, rejoicing as they revelled on in their lonely
+course. In the prime of the year, this is a wild and lovely spot, the
+grass is of the richest green, and the flowers of the most gorgeous
+dyes. The gayest butterflies float above them upon painted wings; and
+the whip-poor-will pours forth from the neighbouring woods, at close of
+dewy eve, his strange but sadly plaintive cry. Winter was now upon the
+earth, and the once green meadow looked like a small forest lake covered
+with snow.
+
+The first step we made into it plunged us up to the knees in the snow,
+which was drifted to a great height in the open space. Mr. T---- and
+our young friend C---- walked on ahead of us, in order to break a track
+through the untrodden snow. We soon reached the cold creek; but here a
+new difficulty presented itself. It was too wide to jump across, and we
+could see no other way of passing to the other side.
+
+"There must be some sort of a bridge hereabout," said young C----, "or
+how can the people from Dummer pass constantly during the winter to and
+fro. I will go along the bank, and halloo to you if I find one."
+
+In a few minutes he gave the desired signal, and on reaching the spot,
+we found a round, slippery log flung across the stream by way of bridge.
+With some trouble, and after various slips, we got safely on the other
+side. To wet our feet would have been to ensure their being frozen;
+and as it was, we were not without serious apprehensions on that score.
+After crossing the bleak, snowy plain, we scrambled over another brook,
+and entered the great swamp, which occupied two miles of our dreary
+road.
+
+It would be vain to attempt giving any description of this tangled maze
+of closely-interwoven cedars, fallen trees, and loose-scattered masses
+of rock. It seemed the fitting abode of wolves and bears, and every
+other unclean beast. The fire had run through it during the summer,
+making the confusion doubly confused. Now we stopped, half doubled, to
+crawl under fallen branches that hung over our path, then again we had
+to clamber over prostrate trees of great bulk, descending from which
+we plumped down into holes in the snow, sinking mid-leg into the rotten
+trunk of some treacherous, decayed pine-tree. Before we were half
+through the great swamp, we began to think ourselves sad fools, and to
+wish that we were safe again by our own firesides. But, then, a great
+object was in view,--the relief of a distressed fellow-creature, and
+like the "full of hope, misnamed forlorn," we determined to overcome
+every difficulty, and toil on.
+
+It took us an hour at least to clear the great swamp, from which we
+emerged into a fine wood, composed chiefly of maple-trees. The sun had,
+during our immersion in the dark shades of the swamp, burst through his
+leaden shroud, and cast a cheery gleam along the rugged boles of the
+lofty trees. The squirrel and chissmunk occasionally bounded across our
+path; the dazzling snow which covered it reflected the branches above
+us in an endless variety of dancing shadows. Our spirits rose in
+proportion. Young C---- burst out singing, and Emilia and I laughed and
+chatted as we bounded along our narrow road. On, on for hours, the same
+interminable forest stretched away to the right and left, before and
+behind us.
+
+"It is past twelve," said my brother T----, thoughtfully; "if we do
+not soon come to a clearing, we may chance to spend the night in the
+forest."
+
+"Oh, I am dying with hunger," cried Emilia. "Do, C---- give us one or
+two of the cakes your mother put into the bag for us to eat upon the
+road."
+
+The ginger-cakes were instantly produced. But where were the teeth to
+be found that could masticate them? The cakes were frozen as hard as
+stones; this was a great disappointment to us tired and hungry wights;
+but it only produced a hearty laugh. Over the logs we went again; for
+it was a perpetual stepping up and down, crossing the fallen trees that
+obstructed our path. At last we came to a spot where two distinct blazed
+roads diverged.
+
+"What are we to do now?" said Mr. T----.
+
+We stopped, and a general consultation was held, and without one
+dissenting voice we took the branch to the right, which, after pursuing
+for about half-a-mile, led us to a log hut of the rudest description.
+
+"Is this the road to Dummer?" we asked a man, who was chopping wood
+outside the fence.
+
+"I guess you are in Dummer?" was the answer.
+
+My heart leaped for joy, for I was dreadfully fatigued.
+
+"Does this road lead through the English Line?"
+
+"That's another thing," returned the woodman. "No; you turned off from
+the right path when you came up here." We all looked very blank at each
+other. "You will have to go back, and keep the other road, and that will
+lead you straight to the English Line."
+
+"How many miles is it to Mrs. N----'s?"
+
+"Some four, or thereabouts," was the cheering rejoinder. "'Tis one of
+the last clearings on the line. If you are going back to Douro to-night,
+you must look sharp."
+
+Sadly and dejectedly we retraced our steps. There are few trifling
+failures more bitter in our journey through life than that of a tired
+traveller mistaking his road. What effect must that tremendous failure
+produce upon the human mind, when, at the end of life's unretraceable
+journey, the traveller finds that he has fallen upon the wrong track
+through every stage, and instead of arriving at the land of blissful
+promise sinks for ever into the gulf of despair!
+
+The distance we had trodden in the wrong path, while led on by hope and
+anticipation, now seemed to double in length, as with painful steps we
+toiled on to reach the right road. This object once attained, soon led
+us to the dwellings of men.
+
+Neat, comfortable log houses, surrounded by well-fenced patches of
+clearing, arose on either side of the forest road; dogs flew out and
+barked at us, and children ran shouting indoors to tell their respective
+owners that strangers were passing their gates; a most unusual
+circumstance, I should think, in that location.
+
+A servant who had hired two years with my brother-in-law, we knew must
+live somewhere in this neighbourhood, at whose fireside we hoped not
+only to rest and warm ourselves, but to obtain something to eat.
+On going up to one of the cabins to inquire for Hannah J----, we
+fortunately happened to light upon the very person we sought. With many
+exclamations of surprise, she ushered us into her neat and comfortable
+log dwelling.
+
+A blazing fire, composed of two huge logs, was roaring up the wide
+chimney, and the savoury smell that issued from a large pot of pea-soup
+was very agreeable to our cold and hungry stomachs. But, alas, the
+refreshment went no further! Hannah most politely begged us to take
+seats by the fire, and warm and rest ourselves; she even knelt down
+and assisted in rubbing our half-frozen hands; but she never once made
+mention of the hot soup, or of the tea, which was drawing in a tin
+tea-pot upon the hearth-stone, or of a glass of whiskey, which would
+have been thankfully accepted by our male pilgrims.
+
+Hannah was not an Irishwoman, no, nor a Scotch lassie, or her very first
+request would have been for us to take "a pickle of soup," or "a sup of
+thae warm broths." The soup was no doubt cooking for Hannah's husband
+and two neighbours, who were chopping for him in the bush; and whose
+want of punctuality she feelingly lamented.
+
+As we left her cottage, and jogged on, Emilia whispered, laughing,
+"I hope you are satisfied with your good dinner? Was not the pea-soup
+excellent?--and that cup of nice hot tea!--I never relished any thing
+more in my life. I think we should never pass that house without giving
+Hannah a call, and testifying our gratitude for her good cheer."
+
+Many times did we stop to inquire the way to Mrs. N----'s, before we
+ascended the steep, bleak hill upon which her house stood. At the door,
+Mr. T---- deposited the sack of provisions, and he and young C---- went
+across the road to the house of an English settler (who, fortunately
+for them, proved more hospitable than Hannah J----), to wait until our
+errand was executed.
+
+The house before which Emilia and I were standing had once been a
+tolerably comfortable log dwelling. It was larger than such buildings
+generally are, and was surrounded by dilapidated barns and stables,
+which were not cheered by a solitary head of cattle. A black pine forest
+stretched away to the north of the house, and terminated in a dismal,
+tangled cedar swamp, the entrance to the house not having been
+constructed to face the road.
+
+The spirit that had borne me up during the journey died within me. I was
+fearful that my visit would be deemed an impertinent intrusion. I knew
+not in what manner to introduce myself and my embarrassment had been
+greatly increased by Mrs. S---- declaring that I must break the ice, for
+she had not courage to go in. I remonstrated, but she was firm. To hold
+any longer parley was impossible. We were standing on the top of a bleak
+hill, with the thermometer many degrees below zero, and exposed to
+the fiercest biting of the bitter, cutting blast. With a heavy sigh, I
+knocked slowly but decidedly at the crazy door. I saw the curly head of
+a boy glance for a moment against the broken window. There was a stir
+within, but no one answered our summons. Emilia was rubbing her hands
+together, and beating a rapid tattoo with her feet upon the hard and
+glittering snow, to keep them from freezing.
+
+Again I appealed to the inhospitable door, with a vehemence which seemed
+to say, "We are freezing, good people; in mercy let us in!"
+
+Again there was a stir, and a whispered sound of voices, as if
+in consultation, from within; and after waiting a few minutes
+longer--which, cold as we were, seemed an age--the door was cautiously
+opened by a handsome, dark-eyed lad of twelve years of age, who was
+evidently the owner of the curly head that had been sent to reconnoitre
+us through the window. Carefully closing the door after him, he stepped
+out upon the snow, and asked us coldly but respectfully what we wanted.
+I told him that we were two ladies, who had walked all the way from
+Douro to see his mamma, and that we wished very much to speak to her.
+The lad answered us, with the ease and courtesy of a gentleman, that he
+did not know whether his mamma could be seen by strangers, but he would
+go in and see. So saying he abruptly left us, leaving behind him an
+ugly skeleton of a dog, who, after expressing his disapprobation at our
+presence in the most disagreeable and unequivocal manner, pounced like
+a famished wolf upon the sack of good things which lay at Emilia's feet;
+and our united efforts could scarcely keep him off.
+
+"A cold, doubtful reception, this!" said my friend, turning her back to
+the wind, and hiding her face in her muff. "This is worse than Hannah's
+liberality, and the long, weary walk."
+
+I thought so too, and begun to apprehend that our walk had been in vain,
+when the lad again appeared, and said that we might walk in, for his
+mother was dressed.
+
+Emilia, true to her determination, went no farther than the passage. In
+vain were all my entreating looks and mute appeals to her benevolence
+and friendship; I was forced to enter alone the apartment that contained
+the distressed family.
+
+I felt that I was treading upon sacred ground, for a pitying angel
+hovers over the abode of suffering virtue, and hallows all its woes.
+On a rude bench, before the fire, sat a lady, between thirty and
+forty years of age, dressed in a thin, coloured muslin gown, the
+most inappropriate garment for the rigour of the season, but, in all
+probability, the only decent one that she retained. A subdued melancholy
+looked forth from her large, dark, pensive eyes. She appeared like
+one who, having discovered the full extent of her misery, had proudly
+steeled her heart to bear it. Her countenance was very pleasing, and,
+in early life (but she was still young), she must have been eminently
+handsome. Near her, with her head bent down, and shaded by her thin,
+slender hand, her slight figure scarcely covered by her scanty clothing,
+sat her eldest daughter, a gentle, sweet-looking girl, who held in her
+arms a baby brother, whose destitution she endeavoured to conceal. It
+was a touching sight; that suffering girl, just stepping into womanhood,
+hiding against her young bosom the nakedness of the little creature she
+loved. Another fine boy, whose neatly-patched clothes had not one piece
+of the original stuff apparently left in them, stood behind his mother,
+with dark, glistening eyes fastened upon me, as if amused, and wondering
+who I was, and what business I could have there. A pale and attenuated,
+but very pretty, delicately featured little girl was seated on a low
+stool before the fire This was old Jenny's darling, Ellie, or Eloise.
+A rude bedstead, of home manufacture, in a corner of the room, covered
+with a coarse woollen quilt, contained two little boys, who had crept
+into it to conceal their wants from the eyes of the stranger. On the
+table lay a dozen peeled potatoes, and a small pot was boiling on the
+fire, to receive this their scanty and only daily meal. There was such
+an air of patient and enduring suffering in the whole group, that, as I
+gazed heart-stricken upon it, my fortitude quite gave way, and I burst
+into tears.
+
+Mrs. N---- first broke the painful silence, and, rather proudly, asked
+me to whom she had the pleasure of speaking. I made a desperate effort
+to regain my composure, and told her, but with much embarrassment, my
+name; adding that I was so well acquainted with her and her children,
+through Jenny, that I could not consider her as a stranger; that I hoped
+that, as I was the wife of an officer, and, like her, a resident in the
+bush, and well acquainted with all its trials and privations, she would
+look upon me as a friend.
+
+She seemed surprised and annoyed, and I found no small difficulty in
+introducing the object of my visit; but the day was rapidly declining,
+and I knew that not a moment was to be lost. At first she coldly
+rejected all offers of service, and said that she was contented, and
+wanted for nothing.
+
+I appealed to the situation in which I beheld herself and her children,
+and implored her, for their sakes, not to refuse help from friends who
+felt for her distress. Her maternal feelings triumphed over her assumed
+indifference, and when she saw me weeping, for I could no longer
+restrain my tears, her pride yielded, and for some minutes not a word
+was spoken. I heard the large tears, as they slowly fell from her
+daughter's eyes, drop one by one upon her garments.
+
+At last the poor girl sobbed out, "Dear mamma, why conceal the truth?
+You know that we are nearly naked, and starving."
+
+Then came the sad tale of domestic woes:--the absence of the husband and
+eldest son; the uncertainty as to where they were, or in what engaged;
+the utter want of means to procure the common necessaries of life; the
+sale of the only remaining cow that used to provide the children with
+food. It had been sold for twelve dollars, part to be paid in cash,
+part in potatoes; the potatoes were nearly exhausted, and they were
+allowanced to so many a day. But the six dollars she had retained as
+their last resource! Alas! she had sent the eldest boy the day before to
+P----, to get a letter out of the post-office, which she hoped
+contained some tidings of her husband and son. She was all anxiety and
+expectation--but the child returned late at night without the letter
+which they had longed for with such feverish impatience. The six dollars
+upon which they had depended for a supply of food were in notes of the
+Farmer's Bank, which at that time would not pass for money, and which
+the roguish purchaser of the cow had passed off upon this distressed
+family.
+
+Oh! imagine, ye who revel in riches--who can daily throw away a large
+sum upon the merest toy--the cruel disappointment, the bitter agony of
+this poor mother's heart, when she received this calamitous news, in the
+midst of her starving children. For the last nine weeks they had lived
+upon a scanty supply of potatoes;--they had not tasted raised bread or
+animal food for eighteen months.
+
+"Ellie," said I, anxious to introduce the sack, which had lain like
+a nightmare upon my mind, "I have something for you; Jenny baked some
+loaves last night, and sent them to you with her best love."
+
+The eyes of all the children grew bright. "You will find the sack with
+the bread in the passage," said I to one of the boys. He rushed
+joyfully out, and returned with Mrs. ---- and the sack. Her bland and
+affectionate greeting restored us all to tranquillity.
+
+The delighted boy opened the sack. The first thing he produced was the
+ham.
+
+"Oh," said I, "that is a ham that my sister sent to Mrs. N----; 'tis of
+her own curing, and she thought that it might be acceptable."
+
+Then came the white fish, nicely packed in a clean cloth. "Mrs. C----
+thought fish might be a treat to Mrs. N----, as she lived so far from
+the great lakes." Then came Jenny's bread, which had already been
+introduced. The beef, and tea, and sugar, fell upon the floor without
+any comment. The first scruples had been overcome, and the day was ours.
+
+"And now, ladies," said Mrs. N----, with true hospitality, "since you
+have brought refreshments with you, permit me to cook something for your
+dinner."
+
+The scene I had just witnessed had produced such a choking sensation
+that all my hunger had vanished. Before we could accept or refuse Mrs.
+N----'s kind offer, Mr. T---- arrived, to hurry us off.
+
+It was two o'clock when we descended the hill in front of the house,
+that led by a side-path round to the road, and commenced our homeward
+route. I thought the four miles of clearings would never be passed; and
+the English Line appeared to have no end. At length we entered once more
+the dark forest.
+
+The setting sun gleamed along the ground; the necessity of exerting
+our utmost speed, and getting through the great swamp before darkness
+surrounded us, was apparent to all. The men strode vigorously forward,
+for they had been refreshed with a substantial dinner of potatoes and
+pork, washed down with a glass of whiskey, at the cottage in which they
+had waited for us; but poor Emilia and I, faint, hungry, and foot-sore,
+it was with the greatest difficulty we could keep up. I thought of
+Rosalind, as our march up and down the fallen logs recommenced, and
+often exclaimed with her, "Oh, Jupiter! how weary are my legs!"
+
+Night closed in just as we reached the beaver-meadow. Here our ears were
+greeted with the sound of well-known voices. James and Henry C---- had
+brought the ox-sleigh to meet us at the edge of the bush. Never was
+splendid equipage greeted with such delight. Emilia and I, now fairly
+exhausted with fatigue, scrambled into it, and lying down on the straw
+which covered the bottom of the rude vehicle, we drew the buffalo robes
+over our faces, and actually slept soundly until we reached Colonel
+C----'s hospitable door.
+
+An excellent supper of hot fish and fried venison was smoking on the
+table, with other good cheer, to which we did ample justice. I, for one,
+was never so hungry in my life. We had fasted for twelve hours, and that
+on an intensely cold day, and had walked during that period upwards of
+twenty miles. Never, never shall I forget that weary walk to Dummer; but
+a blessing followed it.
+
+It was midnight when Emilia and I reached my humble home; our good
+friends the oxen being again put in requisition to carry us there.
+Emilia went immediately to bed, from which she was unable to rise for
+several days. In the mean while I wrote to Moodie an account of the
+scene I had witnessed, and he raised a subscription among the officers
+of the regiment for the poor lady and her children, which amounted
+to forty dollars. Emilia lost no time in making a full report to her
+friends at P----; and before a week passed away, Mrs. N---- and her
+family were removed thither by several benevolent individuals in the
+place. A neat cottage was hired for her; and, to the honour of Canada be
+it spoken, all who could afford a donation gave cheerfully. Farmers
+left at her door, pork, beef, flour, and potatoes; the storekeepers sent
+groceries, and goods to make clothes for the children; the shoemakers
+contributed boots for the boys; while the ladies did all in their power
+to assist and comfort the gentle creature thus thrown by Providence upon
+their bounty.
+
+While Mrs. N---- remained at P---- she did not want for any comfort. Her
+children were clothed and her rent paid by her benevolent friends, and
+her house supplied with food and many comforts from the same source.
+Respected and beloved by all who knew her, it would have been well had
+she never left the quiet asylum where, for several years, she enjoyed
+tranquillity, and a respectable competence from her school; but in an
+evil hour she followed her worthless husband to the Southern States, and
+again suffered all the woes which drunkenness inflicts upon the wives
+and children of its degraded victims.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+A CHANGE IN OUR PROSPECTS.
+
+
+During my illness, a kind neighbour, who had not only frequently come to
+see me, but had brought me many nourishing things, made by her own
+fair hands, took a great fancy to my second daughter, who, lively and
+volatile, could not be induced to remain quiet in the sick chamber. The
+noise she made greatly retarded my recovery, and Mrs. H---- took her
+home with her, as the only means of obtaining for me necessary rest.
+During that winter, and through the ensuing summer, I only received
+occasional visits from my little girl, who, fairly established with her
+new friends, looked upon their house as her home.
+
+This separation, which was felt as a great benefit at the time, greatly
+estranged the affections of the child from her own people. She saw us so
+seldom that she almost regarded us, when she did meet, as strangers;
+and I often deeply lamented the hour when I had unwittingly suffered
+the threefold cord of domestic love to be unravelled by absence, and the
+flattering attentions which fed the vanity of a beautiful child,
+without strengthening her moral character. Mrs. H----, whose husband was
+wealthy, was a generous, warmhearted girl of eighteen. Lovely in person,
+and fascinating in manners, and still too young to have any idea of
+forming the character of a child, she dressed the little creature
+expensively; and, by constantly praising her personal appearance, gave
+her an idea of her own importance which it took many years to eradicate.
+
+It is a great error to suffer a child, who has been trained in the hard
+school of poverty and self-denial, to be transplanted suddenly into
+the hot-bed of wealth and luxury. The idea of the child being so much
+happier and better off blinds her fond parents to the dangers of her
+new situation, where she is sure to contract a dislike to all useful
+occupation, and to look upon scanty means and plain clothing as a
+disgrace. If the reaction is bad for a grown-up person, it is almost
+destructive to a child who is incapable of moral reflection. Whenever
+I saw little Addie, and remarked the growing coldness of her manner
+towards us, my heart reproached me for having exposed her to temptation.
+
+Still, in the eye of the world, she was much better situated than
+she could possibly be with us. The heart of the parent could alone
+understand the change.
+
+So sensible was her father of this alteration, that the first time he
+paid us a visit he went and brought home his child.
+
+"If she remain so long away from us, at her tender years," he said, "she
+will cease to love us. All the wealth in the world would not compensate
+me for the love of my child."
+
+The removal of my sister rendered my separation from my husband doubly
+lonely and irksome. Sometimes the desire to see and converse with him
+would press so painfully on my heart that I would get up in the night,
+strike a light, and sit down and write him a long letter, and tell him
+all that was in my mind; and when I had thus unburdened my spirit, the
+letter was committed to the flames, and after fervently commending
+him to the care of the Great Father of mankind, I would lay down
+my throbbing head on my pillow beside our first-born son, and sleep
+tranquilly.
+
+It is a strange fact that many of my husband's letters to me were
+written at the very time when I felt those irresistible impulses to hold
+communion with him. Why should we be ashamed to admit openly our belief
+in this mysterious intercourse between the spirits of those who are
+bound to each other by the tender ties of friendship and affection, when
+the experience of every day proves its truth? Proverbs, which are the
+wisdom of ages collected into a few brief words, tell us in one pithy
+sentence that "if we talk of the devil he is sure to appear." While the
+name of a long-absent friend is in our mouth, the next moment brings him
+into our presence. How can this be, if mind did not meet mind, and the
+spirit had not a prophetic consciousness of the vicinity of another
+spirit, kindred with its own? This is an occurrence so common that I
+never met with any person to whom it had not happened; few will admit
+it to be a spiritual agency, but in no other way can they satisfactorily
+explain its cause. If it were a mere coincidence, or combination of
+ordinary circumstances, it would not happen so often, and people would
+not be led to speak of the long absent always at the moment when they
+are just about to present themselves before them. My husband was no
+believer in what he termed my fanciful, speculative theories; yet at the
+time when his youngest boy and myself lay dangerously ill, and hardly
+expected to live, I received from him a letter, written in great haste,
+which commenced with this sentence: "Do write to me, dear S----, when
+you receive this. I have felt very uneasy about you for some days past,
+and am afraid that all is not right at home."
+
+Whence came this sudden fear? Why at that particular time did his
+thoughts turn so despondingly towards those so dear to him? Why did the
+dark cloud in his mind hang so heavily above his home? The burden of my
+weary and distressed spirit had reached him; and without knowing of our
+sufferings and danger, his own responded to the call.
+
+The holy and mysterious nature of man is yet hidden from himself; he is
+still a stranger to the movements of that inner life, and knows little
+of its capabilities and powers. A purer religion, a higher standard of
+moral and intellectual training, may in time reveal all this. Man still
+remains a half-reclaimed savage; the leaven of Christianity is slowly
+and surely working its way, but it has not yet changed the whole lump,
+or transformed the deformed into the beauteous child of God. Oh, for
+that glorious day! It is coming. The dark clouds of humanity are
+already tinged with the golden radiance of the dawn, but the sun of
+righteousness has not yet arisen upon the world with healing on his
+wings; the light of truth still struggles in the womb of darkness, and
+man stumbles on to the fulfilment of his sublime and mysterious destiny.
+
+This spring I was not a little puzzled how to get in the crops. I still
+continued so weak that I was quite unable to assist in the field, and
+my good old Jenny was sorely troubled with inflamed feet, which required
+constant care. At this juncture, a neighbouring settler, who had
+recently come among us, offered to put in my small crop of peas,
+potatoes, and oats, in all not comprising more than eight acres, if I
+would lend him my oxen to log-up a large fallow of ten acres, and put
+in his own crops. Trusting to his fair dealing, I consented to this
+arrangement; but he took advantage of my isolated position, and not only
+logged-up his fallow, but put in all his spring crops before he sowed
+an acre of mine. The oxen were worked down so low that they were almost
+unfit for use, and my crops were put in so late, and with such little
+care, that they all proved a failure. I should have felt this loss more
+severely had it happened in any previous year, but I had ceased to feel
+that deep interest in the affairs of the farm, from a sort of conviction
+in my own mind that it would not long remain my home.
+
+Jenny and I did our best in the way of hoeing and weeding; but no
+industry on our part could repair the injury done to the seed by being
+sown out of season.
+
+We therefore confined our attention to the garden, which, as usual, was
+very productive, and with milk, fresh butter, and eggs, supplied
+the simple wants of our family. Emilia enlivened our solitude by her
+company, for several weeks during the summer, and we had many pleasant
+excursions on the water together.
+
+My knowledge of the use of the paddle, however, was not entirely without
+its danger.
+
+One very windy Sunday afternoon, a servant-girl, who lived with my
+friend Mrs. C----, came crying to the house, and implored the use of
+my canoe and paddles, to cross the lake to see her dying father. The
+request was instantly granted; but there was no man upon the place to
+ferry her across, and she could not manage the boat herself--in short,
+had never been in a canoe in her life.
+
+The girl was deeply distressed. She said that she had got word that her
+father could scarcely live till she could reach Smith-town; that if she
+went round by the bridge, she must walk five miles, while if she crossed
+the lake she could be home in half-an-hour.
+
+I did not much like the angry swell upon the water, but the poor
+creature was in such grief that I told her, if she was not afraid of
+venturing with me, I would try and put her over.
+
+She expressed her thanks in the warmest terms, accompanied by a shower
+of blessings; and I took the paddles and went down to the landing.
+Jenny was very averse to my _tempting Providence_, as she termed it, and
+wished that I might get back as safe as I went. However, the old woman
+launched the canoe for me, pushed us from the shore, and away we went.
+The wind was in my favour, and I found so little trouble in getting
+across that I began to laugh at my own timidity. I put the girl on
+shore, and endeavoured to shape my passage home. But this I found was
+no easy task. The water was rough, and the wind high, and the strong
+current, which runs through that part of the lake to the Smith rapids,
+was dead against me. In vain I laboured to cross this current; it
+resisted all my efforts, and at each repulse I was carried further down
+towards the rapids, which were full of sunken rocks, and hard for the
+strong arm of a man to stem--to the weak hand of a woman their safe
+passage was impossible. I began to feel rather uneasy at the awkward
+situation in which I found myself placed, and for some time I made
+desperate efforts to extricate myself, by paddling with all my might.
+I soon gave this up, and contented myself by steering the canoe in the
+path it thought fit to pursue. After drifting down with the current for
+some little space, until I came opposite a small island, I put out
+all my strength to gain the land. In this I fortunately succeeded,
+and getting on shore, I contrived to drag the canoe so far round the
+headland that I got her out of the current. All now was smooth sailing,
+and I joyfully answered old Jenny's yells from the landing, that I was
+safe, and would join her in a few minutes.
+
+This fortunate manoeuvre stood me in good stead upon another occasion,
+when crossing the lake, some weeks after this, in company with a young
+female friend, during a sudden storm.
+
+Two Indian women, heavily laden with their packs of dried venison,
+called at the house to borrow the canoe, to join their encampment upon
+the other side. It so happened that I wanted to send to the mill that
+afternoon, and the boat could not be returned in time without I went
+over with the Indian women and brought it back. My young friend was
+delighted at the idea of the frolic, and as she could both steer and
+paddle, and the day was calm and bright, though excessively warm, we
+both agreed to accompany the squaws to the other side, and bring back
+the canoe.
+
+Mrs. Muskrat had fallen in love with a fine fat kitten, whom the
+children had called "Buttermilk," and she begged so hard for the little
+puss, that I presented it to her, rather marvelling how she would
+contrive to carry it so many miles through the woods, and she loaded
+with such an enormous pack; when, lo! the squaw took down the bundle,
+and, in the heart of the piles of dried venison, she deposited the cat
+in a small basket, giving it a thin slice of the meat to console it for
+its close confinement. Puss received the donation with piteous mews; it
+was evident that mice and freedom were preferred by her to venison and
+the honour of riding on a squaw's back.
+
+The squaws paddled us quickly across, and we laughed and chatted as we
+bounded over the blue waves, until we were landed in a dark cedar swamp,
+in the heart of which we found the Indian encampment.
+
+A large party were lounging around the fire, superintending the drying
+of a quantity of venison which was suspended on forked sticks. Besides
+the flesh of the deer, a number of muskrats were skinned, and extended
+as if standing bolt upright before the fire, warming their paws. The
+appearance they cut was most ludicrous. My young friend pointed to the
+muskrats, as she sank down, laughing, upon one of the skins.
+
+Old Snow-storm, who was present, imagined that she wanted one of them to
+eat, and very gravely handed her the unsavoury beast, stick and all.
+
+"Does the old man take me for a cannibal?" she said "I would as soon eat
+a child."
+
+Among the many odd things cooking at that fire there was something that
+had the appearance of a bull-frog.
+
+"What can that be?" she said, directing my eyes to the strange monster.
+"Surely they don't eat bull-frogs!"
+
+This sally was received by a grunt of approbation from Snow-storm; and,
+though Indians seldom forget their dignity so far as to laugh, he for
+once laid aside his stoical gravity, and, twirling the thing round with
+a stick, burst into a hearty peal.
+
+"_Muckakee!_ Indian eat _muckakee?_--Ha! ha! Indian no eat _muckakee!_
+Frenchmans eat his hind legs; they say the speckled beast much good.
+This no _muckakee!_--the liver of deer, dried--very nice--Indian eat
+him."
+
+"I wish him much joy of the delicate morsel," said the saucy girl, who
+was intent upon quizzing and examining every thing in the camp.
+
+We had remained the best part of an hour, when Mrs. Muskrat laid hold
+of my hand, and leading me through the bush to the shore, pointed up
+significantly to a cloud, as dark as night, that hung loweringly over
+the bush.
+
+"Thunder in that cloud--get over the lake--quick, quick, before it
+breaks." Then motioning for us to jump into the canoe, she threw in the
+paddles, and pushed us from the shore.
+
+We saw the necessity of haste, and both plied the paddle with diligence
+to gain the opposite bank, or at least the shelter of the island, before
+the cloud poured down its fury upon us. We were just in the middle of
+the current when the first peal of thunder broke with startling nearness
+over our heads. The storm frowned darkly upon the woods; the rain came
+down in torrents; and there were we exposed to its utmost fury in the
+middle of a current too strong for us to stem.
+
+"What shall we do? We shall be drowned!" said my young friend, turning
+her pale, tearful face towards me.
+
+"Let the canoe float down the current till we get close to the island;
+then run her into the land. I saved myself once before by this plan."
+
+We did so, and were safe; but there we had to remain, wet to our skins,
+until the wind and the rain abated sufficiently for us to manage our
+little craft. "How do you like being upon the lake in a storm like
+this?" I whispered to my shivering, dripping companion.
+
+"Very well in romance, but terribly dull in reality. We cannot, however,
+call it a dry joke," continued she, wringing the rain from her dress.
+"I wish we were suspended over Old Snow-storm's fire with the bull-frog,
+for I hate a shower-bath with my clothes on."
+
+I took warning by this adventure, never to cross the lake again without
+a stronger arm than mine in the canoe to steer me safely through the
+current.
+
+I received much kind attention from my new neighbour, the Rev. W. W----,
+a truly excellent and pious clergyman of the English Church. The good,
+white-haired old man expressed the kindest sympathy in all my trials,
+and strengthened me greatly with his benevolent counsels and gentle
+charity. Mr. W---- was a true follower of Christ. His Christianity was
+not confined to his own denomination; and every Sabbath his log cottage
+was filled with attentive auditors, of all persuasions, who met together
+to listen to the word of life delivered to them by a Christian minister
+in the wilderness.
+
+He had been a very fine preacher, and though considerably turned of
+seventy, his voice was still excellent, and his manner solemn-and
+impressive.
+
+His only son, a young man of twenty-eight years of age had received a
+serious injury in the brain by falling upon a turf-spade from a loft
+window when a child, and his intellect had remained stationary from that
+time. Poor Harry was an innocent child; he loved his parents with the
+simplicity of a child, and all who spoke kindly to him he regarded as
+friends. Like most persons of his caste of mind, his predilection for
+pet animals was a prominent instinct. He was always followed by two
+dogs, whom he regarded with especial favour. The moment he caught your
+eye, he looked down admiringly upon his four-footed attendants,--patting
+their sleek necks, and murmuring, "Nice dogs--nice dogs." Harry had
+singled out myself and my little ones as great favourites. He would
+gather flowers for the girls, and catch butterflies for the boys; while
+to me he always gave the title of "dear aunt."
+
+It so happened that one fine morning I wanted to walk a couple of miles
+through the bush, to spend the day with Mrs. C----; but the woods were
+full of the cattle belonging to the neighbouring settlers, and of
+these I was terribly afraid. Whilst I was dressing the little girls to
+accompany me, Harry W---- came in with a message from his mother. "Oh,"
+thought I, "here is Harry W----. He will walk with us through the bush,
+and defend us from the cattle."
+
+The proposition was made, and Harry was not a little proud of being
+invited to join our party. We had accomplished half the distance without
+seeing a single hoof; and I was beginning to congratulate myself upon
+our unusual luck, when a large red ox, maddened by the stings of the
+gadflies, came headlong through the brush, tossing up the withered
+leaves and dried moss with his horns, and making directly towards us.
+I screamed to my champion for help; but where was he?--running like
+a frightened chissmunk along the fallen timber, shouting to my eldest
+girl, at the top of his voice,
+
+"Run, Katty, run!--The bull, the bull! Run, Katty!--The bull, the
+bull!"--leaving us poor creatures far behind in the chase.
+
+The bull, who cared not one fig for us, did not even stop to give us
+a passing stare, and was soon lost among the trees; while our valiant
+knight never stopped to see what had become of us, but made the best of
+his way home. So much for taking an innocent for a guard.
+
+The next month most of the militia regiments were disbanded. My
+husband's services were no longer required at P----, and he once more
+returned to help to gather in our scanty harvest. Many of the old debts
+were paid off by his hard-saved pay; and though all hope of continuing
+in the militia service was at an end, our condition was so much improved
+that we looked less to the dark than to the sunny side of the landscape.
+
+The potato crop was gathered in, and I had collected my store of
+dandelion roots for our winter supply of coffee, when one day brought
+a letter to my husband from the Governor's secretary, offering him
+the situation of sheriff of the V---- district. Though perfectly
+unacquainted with the difficulties and responsibilities of such an
+important office, my husband looked upon it as a gift sent from heaven
+to remove us from the sorrows and poverty with which we were surrounded
+in the woods.
+
+Once more he bade us farewell; but it was to go and make ready a home
+for us, that we should no more be separated from each other.
+
+Heartily did I return thanks to God that night for all his mercies to
+us; and Sir George Arthur was not forgotten in those prayers.
+
+From B----, my husband wrote to me to make what haste I could in
+disposing of our crops, household furniture, stock, and farming
+implements; and to prepare myself and the children to join him on the
+first fall of snow that would make the roads practicable for sleighing.
+To facilitate this object, he sent me a box of clothing, to make up for
+myself and the children.
+
+For seven years I had lived out of the world entirely; my person had
+been rendered coarse by hard work and exposure to the weather. I looked
+double the age I really was, and my hair was already thickly sprinkled
+with gray. I clung to my solitude. I did not like to be dragged from it
+to mingle in gay scenes, in a busy town, and with gayly-dressed people.
+I was no longer fit for the world; I had lost all relish for the
+pursuits and pleasures which are so essential to its votaries; I was
+contented to live and die in obscurity.
+
+My dear Emilia rejoiced, like a true friend, in my changed prospects,
+and came up to help me to cut clothes for the children, and to assist me
+in preparing them for the journey.
+
+I succeeded in selling off our goods and chattels much better than I
+expected. My old friend, Mr. W----, who was a new comer, became the
+principal purchaser, and when Christmas arrived I had not one article
+left upon my hands save the bedding, which it was necessary to take with
+us.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE MAGIC SPELL.
+
+
+Never did eager British children look for the first violets and
+primroses of spring with more impatience than my baby boys and girls
+watched, day after day, for the first snow-flakes that were to form the
+road to convey them to their absent father.
+
+"Winter never means to come this year. It will never snow again!"
+exclaimed my eldest boy, turning from the window on Christmas-day, with
+the most rueful aspect that ever greeted the broad, gay beams of the
+glorious sun. It was like a spring day. The little lake in front of the
+window glittered like a mirror of silver, set in its dark frame of pine
+woods.
+
+I, too, was wearying for the snow, and was tempted to think that it did
+not come as early as usual, in order to disappoint us. But I kept this
+to myself, and comforted the expecting child with the oft-repeated
+assertion that it would certainly snow upon the morrow.
+
+But the morrow came and passed away, and many other morrows, and the
+same mild, open weather prevailed. The last night of the old year was
+ushered in with furious storms of wind and snow; the rafters of our log
+cabin shook beneath the violence of the gale, which swept up from the
+lake like a lion roaring for its prey, driving the snow-flakes through
+every open crevice, of which there were not a few, and powdering the
+floor until it rivalled in whiteness the ground without.
+
+"Oh, what a dreadful night!" we cried, as we huddled shivering, around
+the old broken stove. "A person abroad in the woods to-night would be
+frozen. Flesh and blood could not long stand this cutting wind."
+
+"It reminds me of the commencement of a laughable extempore ditty," said
+I to my young friend, A. C----, who was staying with me, "composed by my
+husband, during the first very cold night we spent in Canada:
+
+  "Oh, the cold of Canada nobody knows,
+  The fire burns our shoes without warming our toes,
+  Oh, dear, what shall we do?
+  Our blankets are thin, and our noses are blue--
+  Our noses are blue, and our blankets are thin,
+  It's at zero without, and we're freezing within.
+          (_Chorus_.) Oh, dear, what shall we do?
+
+"But, joking apart, my dear A----, we ought to be very thankful that we
+are not travelling this night to B----."
+
+"But to-morrow," said my eldest boy, lifting up his curly head from my
+lap. "It will be fine to-morrow, and we shall see dear papa again."
+
+In this hope he lay down on his little bed upon the floor, and was soon
+fast asleep; perhaps dreaming of that eagerly-anticipated journey, and
+of meeting his beloved father.
+
+Sleep was a stranger to my eyes. The tempest raged so furiously without
+that I was fearful the roof would be carried off the house, or that the
+chimney would take fire. The night was far advanced when old Jenny and
+myself retired to bed.
+
+My boy's words were prophetic; that was the last night I ever spent in
+the bush--in the dear forest home which I had loved in spite of all
+the hardships which we had endured since we pitched our tent in the
+backwoods. It was the birthplace of my three boys, the school of high
+resolve and energetic action, in which we had learned to meet calmly,
+and successfully to battle with, the ills of life. Nor did I leave it
+without many regretful tears, to mingle once more with a world to whose
+usages, during my long solitude. I had become almost a stranger, and to
+whose praise or blame I felt alike indifferent.
+
+When the day dawned, the whole forest scenery lay glittering in a mantle
+of dazzling white; the sun shone brightly, the heavens were intensely
+blue, but the cold was so severe that every article of food had to be
+thawed before we could get our breakfast. The very blankets that covered
+us during the night were stiff with our frozen breath. "I hope the
+sleighs won't come to-day," I cried; "we should be frozen on the long
+journey."
+
+About noon two sleighs turned into our clearing. Old Jenny ran screaming
+into the room, "The masther has sent for us at last! The sleighs are
+come! Fine large sleighs, and illigant teams of horses! Och, and it's a
+cowld day for the wee things to lave the bush."
+
+The snow had been a week in advance of us at B----, and my husband had
+sent up the teams to remove us. The children jumped about, and laughed
+aloud for joy. Old Jenny did not know whether to laugh or cry, but she
+set about helping me to pack up trunks and bedding as fast as our cold
+hands would permit.
+
+In the midst of the confusion, my brother arrived, like a good genius,
+to our assistance, declaring his determination to take us down to B----
+himself in his large lumber-sleigh. This was indeed joyful news. In less
+than three hours he despatched the hired sleighs with their loads, and
+we all stood together in the empty house, striving to warm our hands
+over the embers of the expiring fire.
+
+How cold and desolate every object appeared! The windows, half blocked
+up with snow, scarcely allowed a glimpse of the declining sun to cheer
+us with his serene aspect. In spite of the cold, several kind friends
+had waded through the deep snow to say, "God bless you!--Good-bye;"
+while a group of silent Indians stood together, gazing upon our
+proceedings with an earnestness which showed that they were not
+uninterested in the scene. As we passed out to the sleigh, they pressed
+forward, and silently held out their hands, while the squaws kissed me
+and the little ones with tearful eyes. They had been true friends to us
+in our dire necessity, and I returned their mute farewell from my very
+heart.
+
+Mr. S---- sprang into the sleigh. One of our party was missing. "Jenny!"
+shouted my brother, at the top of his voice, "it is too cold to keep
+your mistress and the little children waiting."
+
+"Och, shure thin, it is I that am comin'!" returned the old body, as she
+issued from the house.
+
+Shouts of laughter greeted her appearance. The figure she cut upon that
+memorable day I shall never forget. My brother dropped the reins upon
+the horses' necks, and fairly roared. Jenny was about to commence her
+journey to the front in three hats. Was it to protect her from the
+cold? Oh, no; Jenny was not afraid of the cold! She could have eaten
+her breakfast on the north side of an iceberg, and always dispensed with
+shoes, during the most severe of our Canadian winters. It was to protect
+these precious articles from Injury.
+
+Our good, neighbour, Mrs. W----, had presented her with an old
+sky-blue drawn-silk bonnet, as a parting benediction. This, by way of
+distinction, for she never had possessed such an article of luxury as
+a silk bonnet in her life, Jenny had placed over the coarse calico cap,
+with its full furbelow of the same yellow, ill-washed, homely material,
+next to her head, over this, as second in degree, a sun-burnt straw
+hat, with faded pink ribbons, just showed its broken rim and tawdry
+trimmings, and, to crown all, and serve as a guard to the rest, a really
+serviceable gray beaver bonnet, once mine, towered up as high as the
+celebrated crown in which brother Peter figures in Swift's "Tale of a
+Tub."
+
+"Mercy, Jenny! Why, old woman, you don't mean to go with us that
+figure?"
+
+"Och, my dear heart! I've no bandbox to kape the cowld from desthroying
+my illigant bonnets," returned Jenny, laying her hand upon the side of
+the sleigh.
+
+"Go back, Jenny; go back," cried my brother. "For God's sake take all
+that tomfoolery from off your head. We shall be the laughing-stock of
+every village we pass through."
+
+"Och, shure now, Mr. S----, who'd think of looking at an owld crathar
+like me! It's only yorsel' that would notice the like."
+
+"All the world, every body would look at you, Jenny. I believe that you
+put on those hats to draw the attention of all the young fellows that we
+shall happen to meet on the road. Ha, Jenny!"
+
+With an air of offended dignity, the old woman returned to the house
+to rearrange her toilet, and provide for the safety of her "illigant
+bonnets," one of which she suspended to the strings of her cloak, while
+she carried the third dangling in her hand; and no persuasion of mine
+would induce her to put them out of sight.
+
+Many painful and conflicting emotions agitated my mind, but found no
+utterance in words, as we entered the forest path, and I looked my last
+upon that humble home consecrated by the memory of a thousand sorrows.
+Every object had become endeared to me during my long exile from
+civilized life. I loved the lonely lake, with its magnificent belt of
+dark pines sighing in the breeze; the cedar swamp, the summer home of
+my dark Indian friends; my own dear little garden, with its rugged
+snake-fence, which I had helped Jenny to place with my own hands, and
+which I had assisted the faithful woman in cultivating for the last
+three years, where I had so often braved the tormenting mosquitoes,
+black-flies, and intense heat, to provide vegetables for the use of the
+family. Even the cows, that had given a breakfast for the last time to
+my children, were now regarded with mournful affection. A poor labourer
+stood in the doorway of the deserted house, holding my noble water-dog,
+Rover, in a string. The poor fellow gave a joyous bark as my eyes fell
+upon him.
+
+"James J----, take care of my dog."
+
+"Never fear, ma'am, he shall bide with me as long as he lives."
+
+"He and the Indians at least feel grieved for our departure," I thought.
+Love is so scarce in this world that we ought to prize it, however lowly
+the source from whence it flows.
+
+We accomplished only twelve miles of our journey that night. The road
+lay through the bush, and along the banks of the grand, rushing, foaming
+Otonabee river, the wildest and most beautiful of forest streams. We
+slept at the house of kind friends, and early in the morning resumed
+our long journey, but minus one of our party. Our old favourite cat,
+Peppermint, had made her escape from the basket in which she had been
+confined, and had scampered off, to the great grief of the children.
+
+As we passed Mrs. H----'s house, we called for dear Addie. Mr. H----
+brought her in his arms to the gate, well wrapped up in a large fur cape
+and a warm woollen shawl.
+
+"You are robbing me of my dear little girl," he said. "Mrs. H---- is
+absent; she told me not to part with her if you should call; but I could
+not detain her without your consent. Now that you have seen her, allow
+me to keep her for a few months longer!"
+
+Addie was in the sleigh. I put my arm around her. I felt I had my child
+again, and I secretly rejoiced in the possession of my own. I sincerely
+thanked him for his kindness, and Mr. S---- drove on.
+
+At Mr. R----'s, we found a parcel from dear Emilia, containing a
+plum-cake and other good things for the children Her kindness never
+flagged.
+
+We crossed the bridge over the Otonabee, in the rising town of
+Peterborough, at eight o'clock in the morning. Winter had now set in
+fairly. The children were glad to huddle together in the bottom of the
+sleigh, under the buffalo skins and blankets; all but my eldest boy,
+who, just turned of five years old, was enchanted with all he heard and
+saw, and continued to stand up and gaze around him. Born in the forest,
+which he had never quitted before, the sight of a town was such
+a novelty that he could find no words wherewith to express his
+astonishment.
+
+"Are the houses come to see one another?" he asked. "How did they all
+meet here?"
+
+The question greatly amused his uncle, who took some pains to explain to
+him the difference between town and country. During the day, we got rid
+of old Jenny and her bonnets, whom we found a very refractory travelling
+companion; as wilful, and far more difficult to manage than a young
+child. Fortunately, we overtook the sleighs with the furniture, and
+Mr. S---- transferred Jenny to the care of one of the drivers; an
+arrangement that proved satisfactory to all parties.
+
+We had been most fortunate in obtaining comfortable lodgings for the
+night. The evening had closed in so intensely cold, that although we
+were only two miles from C---- Addie was so much affected by it that the
+child lay sick and pale in my arms, and, when spoken to, seemed scarcely
+conscious of our presence.
+
+My brother jumped from the front seat, and came round to look at her.
+"That child is ill with the cold; we must stop somewhere to warm her, or
+she will hardly hold out till we get to the inn at C----."
+
+We were just entering the little village of A----, in the vicinity of
+the court-house, and we stopped at a pretty green cottage, and asked
+permission to warm the children. A stout, middle-aged woman came to the
+sleigh, and in the kindest manner requested us to alight.
+
+"I think I know that voice," I said. "Surely it cannot be Mrs. S----,
+who once kept the ---- hotel at C----?"
+
+"Mrs. Moodie, you are welcome," said the excellent woman, bestowing upon
+me a most friendly embrace; "you and your children. I am heartily glad
+to see you again after so many years. God bless you all!"
+
+Nothing could exceed the kindness and hospitality of this generous
+woman; she would not hear of our leaving her that night, and, directing
+my brother to put up his horses in her stable, she made up an excellent
+fire in a large bedroom, and helped me to undress the little ones who
+were already asleep, and to warm and feed the rest before we put them to
+bed.
+
+This meeting gave me real pleasure. In their station of life, I seldom
+have found a more worthy couple than this American and his wife; and,
+having witnessed so many of their acts of kindness, both to ourselves
+and others, I entertained for them a sincere respect and affection, and
+truly rejoiced that Providence had once more led me to the shelter of
+their roof.
+
+Mr. S---- was absent, but I found little Mary--the sweet child who used
+to listen with such delight to Moodie's flute--grown up into a beautiful
+girl; and the baby that was, a fine child of eight years old. The next
+morning was so intensely cold that my brother would not resume the
+journey until past ten o'clock, and even then it was a hazardous
+experiment.
+
+We had not proceeded four miles before the horses were covered with
+icicles. Our hair was frozen as white as Old Time's solitary forelock,
+our eyelids stiff, and every limb aching with cold.
+
+"This will never do," said my brother, turning to me; "the children will
+freeze. I never felt the cold more severe than this."
+
+"Where can we stop?" said I; "we are miles from C----, and I see no
+prospect of the weather becoming milder."
+
+"Yes, yes; I know, by the very intensity of the cold, that a change is
+at hand. We seldom have more than three very severe days running, and
+this is the third. At all events, it is much warmer at night in this
+country than during the day; the wind drops, and the frost is more
+bearable. I know a worthy farmer who lives about a mile ahead; he will
+give us house-room for a few hours, and we will resume our journey in
+the evening. The moon is at full; and it will be easier to wrap the
+children up, and keep them warm when they are asleep. Shall we stop at
+Old Woodruff's?"
+
+"With all my heart." My teeth were chattering with the cold, and the
+children were crying over their aching fingers at the bottom of the
+sleigh.
+
+A few minutes' ride brought us to a large farm-house, surrounded by
+commodious sheds and barns. A fine orchard opposite, and a yard well
+stocked with fat cattle and sheep, sleek geese, and plethoric-looking
+swine, gave promise of a land of abundance and comfort. My brother ran
+into the house to see if the owner was at home, and presently returned,
+accompanied by the staunch Canadian yeoman and his daughter, who gave us
+a truly hearty welcome, and assisted in removing the children from the
+sleigh to the cheerful fire, that made all bright and cozy within.
+
+Our host was a shrewd, humorous-looking Yorkshireman. His red, weather
+beaten face, and tall, athletic, figure, bent as it was with hard
+labour, gave indications of great personal strength; and a certain
+knowing twinkle in his small, clear gray eyes, which had been acquired
+by long dealing with the world, with a quiet, sarcastic smile that
+lurked round the corners of his large mouth, gave you the idea of a
+man who could not easily be deceived by his fellows; one who, though no
+rogue himself, was quick in detecting the roguery of others. His manners
+were frank and easy, and he was such a hospitable entertainer that you
+felt at home with him in a minute.
+
+"Well, how are you, Mr. S----?" cried the farmer, shaking my brother
+heartily by the hand. "Toiling in the bush still, eh?"
+
+"Just in the same place."
+
+"And the wife and children?"
+
+"Hearty. Some half-dozen have been added to the flock since you were our
+way."
+
+"So much the better--so much the better. The more the merrier, Mr.
+S----; children are riches in this country."
+
+"I know not how that may be; I find it hard to clothe and feed mine."
+
+"Wait till they grow up; they will be brave helps to you then. The price
+of labour--the price of labour, Mr. S----, is the destruction of the
+farmer."
+
+"It does not seem to trouble you much, Woodruff" said my brother,
+glancing round the well-furnished apartment.
+
+"My son and S---- do it all," cried the old man. "Of course the
+girls help in busy times, and take care of the dairy, and we hire
+occasionally; but small as the sum is which is expended in wages during
+seed-time and harvest, I feel it, I can tell you."
+
+"You are married again, Woodruff?"
+
+"No, sir," said the farmer, with a peculiar smile; "not yet;" which
+seemed to imply the probability of such an event. "That tall gal is my
+eldest daughter; she manages the house, and an excellent housekeeper
+she is. But I cannot keep her for ever." With a knowing wink. "Gals will
+think of getting married, and seldom consult the wishes of their parents
+upon the subject when once they have taken the notion into their heads.
+But 'tis natural, Mr. S----, it is natural; we did just the same when we
+were young."
+
+My brother looked laughingly towards the fine, handsome young woman,
+as she placed upon the table hot water, whiskey, and a huge plate of
+plum-cake, which did not lack a companion, stored with the finest apples
+which the orchard could produce.
+
+The young girl looked down, and blushed.
+
+"Oh, I see how it is, Woodruff! You will soon lose your daughter. I
+wonder that you have kept her so long. But who are these young ladies?"
+he continued, as three girls very demurely entered the room.
+
+"The two youngest are my darters, by my last wife, who, I fear, mean
+soon to follow the bad example of their sister. The other _lady_," said
+the old man, with a reverential air, "is a _particular_ friend of my
+eldest darter's."
+
+My brother laughed slyly, and the old man's cheek took a deeper glow as
+he stooped forward to mix the punch.
+
+"You said that these two young ladies, Woodruff, were by your last wife.
+Pray how many wives have you had?"
+
+"Only three. It is impossible, they say in my country, to have too much
+of a good thing."
+
+"So I suppose you think," said my brother, glancing first at the old
+man and then towards Miss Smith. "Three wives! You have been a fortunate
+man, Woodruff, to survive them all."
+
+"Ah, have I not, Mr. S----? but to tell you the truth, I have been both
+lucky and unlucky in the wife way," and then he told us the history of
+his several ventures in matrimony, with which I shall not trouble my
+readers.
+
+When he had concluded, the weather was somewhat milder, the sleigh was
+ordered to the door, and we proceeded on our journey, resting, for the
+night at a small village about twenty miles from B----, rejoicing that
+the long distance which separated us from the husband and father was
+diminished to a few miles, and that, with the blessing of Providence, we
+should meet on the morrow.
+
+About noon we reached the distant town, and were met at the inn by
+him whom, one and all so ardently longed to see. He conducted us to a
+pretty, neat cottage, which he had prepared for our reception, and
+where we found old Jenny already arrived. With great pride the old
+woman conducted me over the premises, and showed me the furniture
+"the masther" had bought; especially recommending to my notice a china
+tea-service, which she considered the most wonderful acquisition of the
+whole.
+
+"Och! who would have thought, a year ago, misthress dear, that we should
+be living in a mansion like this, and ating off raal chaney? It is but
+yestherday that we were hoeing praties in the field."
+
+"Yes, Jenny, God has been very good to us, and I hope that we shall
+never learn to regard with indifference the many benefits which we have
+received at His hands."
+
+
+Reader! it is not my intention to trouble you with the sequel of our
+history. I have given you a faithful picture of a life in the backwoods
+of Canada, and I leave you to draw from it your own conclusions. To the
+poor, industrious workingman it presents many advantages; to the poor
+gentleman, _none!_ The former works hard, puts up with coarse, scanty
+fare, and submits, with a good grace, to hardships that would kill a
+domesticated animal at home. Thus he becomes independent, inasmuch as
+the land that he has cleared finds him in the common necessaries of
+life; but it seldom, if ever, in remote situations, accomplishes more
+than this. The gentleman can neither work so hard, live so coarsely, nor
+endure so many privations as his poorer but more fortunate neighbour.
+Unaccustomed to manual labour, his services in the field are not of a
+nature to secure for him a profitable return. The task is new to him, he
+knows not how to perform it well; and, conscious of his deficiency, he
+expends his little means in hiring labour, which his bush farm can never
+repay. Difficulties increase, debts grow upon him, he struggles in vain
+to extricate himself, and finally sees his family sink into hopeless
+ruin.
+
+If these sketches should prove the means of deterring one family from
+sinking their property, and shipwrecking all their hopes, by going to
+reside in the backwoods of Canada, I shall consider myself amply repaid
+for revealing the secrets of the prison house, and feel that I have not
+toiled and suffered in the wilderness in vain.
+
+
+
+
+THE MAPLE-TREE.
+
+A CANADIAN SONG.
+
+
+  Hail to the pride of the forest--hail
+    To the maple, tall and green;
+  It yields a treasure which ne'er shall fail
+    While leaves on its boughs are seen.
+      When the moon shines bright,
+      On the wintry night,
+  And silvers the frozen snow;
+    And echo dwells
+    On the jingling bells
+  As the sleighs dart to and fro;
+    Then it brightens the mirth
+   Of the social hearth
+  With its red and cheery glow.
+
+  Afar, 'mid the bosky forest shades,
+    It lifts its tall head on high;
+  When the crimson-tinted evening fades
+    From the glowing saffron sky;
+      When the sun's last beams
+      Light up woods and streams,
+  And brighten the gloom below;
+      And the deer springs by
+      With his flashing eye,
+  And the shy, swift-footed doe;
+      And the sad winds chide
+      In the branches wide,
+  With a tender plaint of woe.
+
+  The Indian leans on its rugged trunk,
+    With the bow in his red right-hand,
+  And mourns that his race, like a stream, has sunk
+    From the glorious forest land.
+      But, blithe and free,
+      The maple-tree,
+  Still tosses to sun and air
+      Its thousand arms,
+      While in countless swarms
+  The wild bee revels there;
+      But soon not a trace
+      Of the red man's race
+  Shall be found in the landscape fair.
+
+  When the snows of winter are melting fast,
+    And the sap begins to rise,
+  And the biting breath of the frozen blast
+    Yields to the spring's soft sighs,
+      Then away to the wood,
+      For the maple, good,
+  Shall unlock its honied store;
+      And boys and girls,
+      With their sunny curls,
+  Bring their vessels brimming o'er
+      With the luscious flood
+      Of the brave tree's blood,
+  Into caldrons deep to pour.
+
+  The blaze from the sugar-bush gleams red;
+    Far down in the forest dark,
+  A ruddy glow on the trees is shed,
+    That lights up their ragged bark;
+      And with merry shout,
+      The busy rout
+  Watch the sap as it bubbles high;
+      And they talk of the cheer
+      Of the coming year,
+  And the jest and the song pass by;
+      And brave tales of old
+      Round the fire are told,
+  That kindle youth's beaming eye.
+
+  Hurra! for the sturdy maple-tree!
+    Long may its green branch wave;
+  In native strength sublime and free,
+    Meet emblem for the brave.
+      May the nation's peace
+      With its growth increase,
+  And its worth be widely spread;
+      For it lifts not in vain
+      To the sun and rain
+  Its tall, majestic head.
+      May it grace our soil,
+      And reward our toil,
+  Till the nation's heart is dead!
+
+
+Reader! my task is ended.
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life in the Backwoods, by Susanna Moodie
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN THE BACKWOODS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 8393.txt or 8393.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/8/3/9/8393/
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Bidwell and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
+  www.gutenberg.org/license.
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at 809
+North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887.  Email
+contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the
+Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit:  www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For forty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+